This post is all about finding kale in Manila. I’ve eaten kale in the US and I liked it. I even made baked kale chips once. Until recently I couldn’t find kale in any supermarket.
I know there are local suppliers of kale in Manila but so far I haven’t found it yet. I guess they don’t have enough to supply supermarkets since it’s in high demand in restaurants. I was happy to find this pack of imported Earthbound Farm Organic Kale in S&R for P300.
This is baby kale and it’s tender and not bitter like the more mature varieties that need to be cooked or chopped finely for salads. For this salad I added some Romaine and Lollo Rosso greens as well as blue cheese and a honey vinaigrette. Simple but delicious.
The next day I brought the same salad with addition of beef & dried cranberries to work.
My container of kale has been sitting in the refrigerator for a few days and I was worried it was going to spoil soon so I decided to make pasta with kale. I love cooking pasta because I just look for whatever ingredients I have on hand and cook freestyle. I had half a box of maccheroni, Mr. D’s applewood smoked bacon, a pack of portabello baby mushroom and Parmesan cheese and that seemed enough for a good pasta dish.
Cook the bacon until crisp. Pour off all the rendered bacon fat except for a teaspoon.
Add some olive oil in the pan and cook the minced garlic. Be careful not to brown them.
Add in the sliced mushroom and sauté over medium-high heat.
Add the kale and cook until leaves are wilted.
I added half a cup of dry white wine. Let the liquid reduce by half over medium-high heat.
Transfer the cooked pasta, grated Parmesan cheese and bacon to the mushroom and kale in the pan. Mix well and transfer to a serving plate.
I really liked how this pasta dish came out. It didn’t need any sauce but I reserved some pasta water to add when I reheated the leftovers the next day. The pasta was very flavorful from the smokey, salty bacon and the kale and mushrooms. This is a healthier way to have pasta. No cream or any sauce and I guarantee you won’t miss it.
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