Some vegetables work well in polite company. A group sitting down for dinner eats peas or green beans without much complaint.
Other slightly more eccentric vegetables might be best enjoyed by the cook when eaten alone. Eating fall's finest vegetables like brussel sprouts, turnips, and kale alone means that we cooks don't need to expose our favorite vegetable dishes to any turned up noses or friends' sudden, strange allergies.
I'm all for introducing eaters, especially children, to new vegetables, but when a vegetable in the peak of its season is prepared quickly and simply for a party of one, the results are a delicious, calming memory that lasts all week.
Food writer and novelist Laurie Colwin spent a lot of time in Greenwich Village "alone in the kitchen with an eggplant." The vegetable I like to eat by myself is kale.
On Sunday morning, I was up early and found my huge bunch of kale blocking my view of anything else in the fridge. I made myself some kale soup with poached eggs on top. Served with coffee and toast, it made a great breakfast for one.
Easy Kale Soup for One
serves one, or two
1 potato, peeled
2 cups water
6 to 8 kale leaves, carefully cleaned
2 eggs
1 garlic clove
1 tablespoon good olive oil
salt and pepper
Chop the potato into bite sized chunks. Using a medium saucepan, put the water, potato and a dash of salt over medium-high heat.
While the potatoes start to cook, roll the leaves of the kale leaves together into a tight bunch and slice them thinly. You want thin ribbons of kale. Cut the stems into small pieces.
Put the stems in the pot with the potatoes first, since they take longer to cook. After two minutes, add the leafy parts of the kale. If necessary, add more water to the pot to just about cover the kale. Peel and mince the garlic clove and add it to the soup.
Put the lid on the pot and let the soup cook for about ten minutes. You will know the soup is done when you taste a ribbon of kale and it is tender, but has not yet become stringy or pulpy. Season with salt and fresh cracked pepper.
Then turn the heat to medium and crack two eggs on top of the soup. Ladle some of the soup broth on top of the eggs to poach them. Put the lid back on the pot and check the soup after three minutes. The whites of the eggs should start to turn solid while there is still some softness in the yolk. If the eggs break into the soup before they prettily poach, just use a fork to swirl them into the soup, egg drop style.
If your eggs poached, carefully spoon them into the center of a soup bowl. Ladle more soup around the outside of your bowl. Splash a ladle full of broth right over the top of the egg to keep it piping hot. Add some luxury to your soup for one by topping it with some good olive oil.
Mmm...this looks perfect. How did you know? When I'm home alone I make a huge pot of some favorite vegetable and find one little "something else" (a few little pieces of sausage or half of a left over chicken breast). I'm trying this.
I love kale. I usually mix it with mashed potatoes to make colcannon. I think I might try your recipe sometime this week since the weather just suddenly turned cold on us (a little earlier than usual). A little chopped sausage might make it even more hearty. :)
Brussel sprouts are definitely something I wind up having to eat alone. Everyone I know utterly hates them. I like to cut them up and make something akin to a green bean casserole with them.
Verily, I like the sausage idea.
I have to eat brussel sprouts alone too. I like them roasted with garlic and olive oil.
Check out this brussel sprout recipe from The Little Owl chef from Martha's show last week:
http://www.marthastewart.com/page.jhtml?type=content&id=recipe4880138&layout=martha
I don't know if I have the energy to peel leaves off brussel sprouts for a crowd that probably won't like them, but a variation on this recipe could be another great dinner for one.
Mmmm.. brussel sprouts.
I always end up having to eat mine alone as well, but I do mine in a faux asian/stirfry way.
Trim them, slice them in half. Throw them into a pan with a 1/4" water in there. Clamp and lid and let them steam to al dente (5 minutes or so). Pull from the pan, dump the excess water.
Heat the pan with sesame oil, add minced garlic and ginger then julienned red bell pepper for a few seconds to get the heat rolling. Add the brussel sprouts to get them seared.
Finally add sliced green onion (thin whites, large greens) and a small amount of my quick sauce of soy, black vinegar, garlic chile paste and some cornstarch. Thicken the sauce, toss to coat and throw into a bowl with chopsticks. I love it. No one else does. My girl thinks I'm insane for eating brussel sprouts!
As for Kale, I like shredding and cooking it down with chicken broth and making almost a chicken/kale veloute for pasta. Lots of cheese to help bind it together and just enough tooth in the kale to make it clear you're not eating mush.
Drew, when you shred kale, do you use a knife to cut it or do you use a grater or shredding blade in food processor or?? Very curious to try your recipe.
Chris, that recipe sounds great. I have all the ingredients except for the campanelle pasta. I bet I could substitute shell pasta without a problem. :) Pulling leaves off a brussel sprout does seem like a pain. Maybe chopping them will give a similar effect.
I dunno how Dave does it, but I use the chiffonade technique to chop up kale.
Eek. Sorry, I mean Drew.
i made this tonight -- i'm fighting the desire to turn on my heat here in the southwest until absolutely necessary, and am instead cooking warm, delicious comfort food. high five on this one -- i made it with collard greens from my CSA box and it was terrific. thanks!
This post reminds me of the Galway Kinnell poem oatmeal, which includes such great lines as:
"I am aware it is not good to eat oatmeal alone.
Its consistency is such that is better for your mental health
if somebody eats it with you."
Here's another good kale soup recipe (and includes chorizo):
http://www.leitesculinaria.com/recipes/portuguese/caldo_verde.html
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This post reminds me of the Galway Kinnell poem "Oatmeal," which includes such great lines as:
"I am aware it is not good to eat oatmeal alone.
Its consistency is such that is better for your mental health
if somebody eats it with you."
Here's another good kale soup recipe (and includes chorizo):
http://www.leitesculinaria.com/recipes/portuguese/caldo_verde.html
view HaveForkWillTravel's profile
Saving this one too.
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