Yesterday I mentioned that I was not a huge kale fan. That’s not a crime. I am soooo glad to hear there are sooo many wonderful qualities to kale. I am soooo glad to hear sooo many of those uses from sooo many chatty people out there. To set the record straight, I did not say kale was the scourge of the planet. I merely said it had a certain “raw greeny-ness” that makes my teeth squeak when I eat it. No I don’t wear dentures, and I wouldn’t tell you if I did.

Please give me some credit for taking a veggie I merely feel lukewarm about and building (what I believe) to be a terrific soup around it. This shows “tolerance” on my part. It requires a certain “pioneer spirit” and proves once and for all that I am “fair and balanced”. Notice I am quoting from several of you jokers out there! Besides. I am a bit proud of what I came up with.

I devised a White Bean and Red Kale Soup with Italian Sausage. Now I admit I used some rather “rudimentary“ soup making techniques. I did not bust down any walls in making this soup. But, it is my own making. Still, that doesn’t mean I did not have certain gastronomic inspirations when I set forth my culinary ambitions on that pretty red kale. 

January is the height of the season in Southern California for the greens we all love.

Kale, Spinach, Rapini, Chard, Mustard, Pea Tendrils. You see them this time of year at the market. They are so beautiful, like masterful Baroque still-life paintings of the Dutch Golden Age.  The intensity of detail of these greens can almost be off putting. Intricate shapes, complex gradations of color; thick, lush and vibrant. Cooking with them just makes you feel like an artist.

But if you are able to look past all the variations of green greens, you might notice another type of green entirely. And that green is RED!

You may be familiar with Red Leaf Lettuce. It’s a pretty alternative to the Green Leaf Lettuce you find in your local supermarket. Aside from its striking red blush, it tastes fairly similar to its more common green brother. Though, I swear it gets all black and slimy much quicker than the green guy.

But unlike green/red leaf lettuce, there are greens at the Farmers Market now that not only differ in their stunning red chromatics…but you will find they have a whole other flavor palate to boot. Perhaps it’s the coloration. I have researched this and cannot find a definitive answer. But, especially among the so-called bitter greens, the red varieties are often milder; sometimes noticeably sweeter. And I mean sweet like honey.