Kale salad with beet “croutons”

A salad of shredded kale, "croutons" of cooked cubes of beet, and toasted pecans

A nearby restaurant, Millbrook’s Aurelia, offers a kale salad that is so good that riots would ensue if it were removed from the menu. It has shredded kale (possibly blanched), currants, pine nuts, aged balsamic vinaigrette, and some shredded aged cheese, in a perfect balance of flavors and textures.

I was thinking about that salad when I arrived at the greenhouse the other day. Some tuscan kale planted in February was maturing. It’s also called cavolo nero or black kale but is truly a handsome dark spruce green. The leaves are narrower than those of traditional kale–they almost look like giant green feathers.

As I gathered kale for my salad, wondering what dried fruit I had at home to accompany it, I noticed a small bed of beets, also planted in February, looking crowded. I decided to thin them out. Unlike the beets we planted last fall, these were a variety that produce robust beets; one was the size of an extra-large egg.

Tuscan kale and beets combined for a great summer salad.

At home, I washed and trimmed the beets and steamed them for ten minutes, then peeled them and cut them into small dice. The sweet beet cubes would stand in for dried fruit in my salad. After washing and drying the kale, I stacked the leaves and rolled them into a big cigar and then cut it crosswise into thin ribbons. I tossed the mustard vinaigrette onto the greens about 15 minutes before eating to loosen them up a bit. At the last minute, I added in the beet “croutons” and some toasted pecans.

It was a perfect side dish for a hot early summer night, but, especially because of the deep hues of the kale and beets, I’ll remember it during the winter holidays. We will certainly still have beets and kale available then.