A New Look + My Current Favourite Kale

Hello everyone, and welcome to the new SCM site! I hope you like it! It’s my hope that it makes it much easier for you to register for classes and guest events (!!!). Speaking of guest events… you might notice a gorgeous smiling red head over there to the right… Yes, that is CHRISTINA PIRELLO AND SHE’S COMING TO TORONTO TO TEACH!!!! Seriously, this is RIDICULOUSLY AMAZINGLY EXCITING!!! Registration is OPEN! See you all there.

In January, Hubs and I really felt the need to lighten things up in our diet. It’s interesting, as normally at this time of year I crave warming, hearty dishes. But for some reason, for the past few weeks we can’t get enough kale and collards. The lacinato kale (you might see it called dinosaur kale, or black kale in your store) has been especially enticing, and so I wanted to share with you my current favourite way to eat it.

First you’ll need to toast up a big batch of pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds to make up a giant batch of this. Toast lots so you can have a few handfuls to reserve. In addition to the nice crunch they bring to this dish, seeds make an excellent topper for morning porridges, cooked greens or even served atop your lunch or dinner grain dish. While the seeds are cooling, you can prep the kale. Wash the leaves carefully then remove them from the stems. Slice the stems into small bits until you get almost to the bottom- if you look carefully you can see quite clearly where the stems start to turn woody and dry. Cut up to there, then discard the dry bits.

Okay, so you might have to wait a little longer for the seeds to cool than the time it took to wash the kale…. I wasn’t kidding when I said this was super easy. Time to sit back and watch an episode of Buffy (we just started watching the series from the very beginning- so fun!!). By now the seeds should be cool to touch. Blitz them up and make the dressing. Bring about an inch or so of water to boil. Add the chopped stems and simmer for about 30 seconds to a minute. Add in the kale leaves and sauté in the water for about another minute. Place them on a plate with a generous serving of dressing, and top with the stems and a scattering of reserved seeds. Voila. My current kale addiction.

Have a lovely week! xo.