K is for Kudos to Kale and a Kaleidoscopic Future.

Positano, Italia (Campania) - October 2010

Ok.
So, have you been to a place where you wished could be your reality, everyday? Have you lived a life, which you wish you  could continue to live? Have you had fantasies of both, simultaneously? Did you get to have them fulfilled?

I recently returned from a span of my life where I had the extreme privilege to experience all of the above. And now, the extreme devastation of not having them currently, although 'tis better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all ' right?

This will be my greatest life recommendation: do it. Whatever it is you are thinking of doing, do it. Whatever age you find yourself at, whatever situation you are in now, if you haven't had this, go get your mind blown, considerably, and mostly by travel. From what I got to experience, it goes by far to quickly, and then your back, in reality; of work, stress, money, lack of time, and then you don't feel like the chance is available so soon again.
So, go get your socks rocked. By the world; by the air, the sky, the sea and the earth. Go eat the food of a grandmother and go taste the salt from the earth. Have stress in finding your train in a foreign language and have anxiousness of not knowing where to go next. Have the sand of the sea between your toes and the smell of spaghetti on your hands. Get your neck crinkled from having to look up all the time and wonder 'how did I get this lucky' and 'wow, why is the sky so blue here?'
It's out there, it's waiting. It wants to be seen, it wants to be treaded upon and spread you thin. Make you small. Make you emotional. Make you grow, exponentially.

Sorrento, Italia (Campania) - October 2010

And now I am back. Here in New York, as a new student of the world and not of anything specific, which I kind of like. Mostly though, I am a student, everyday, of cuisine. Today I ate an amazing salad of sunchoke, mushroom, raddiccio and pecorino. Just those simple ingredients were able to create a experience for me that brought me back to eating a small dish of roasted fresh porcini's from a garden in Reggio-Emilia.

Daily I am wrenched back to recognizing how lucky I was, and trust me, I soaked up every bit of lucky I could absorb. I got to taste and smell and touch and experience what it is to be 'Italian'. What it is to live in Europe. Ultimately, I am brought back to the quiet on the sea, the wind in my hair and the ease of a walk. I know how good life can be, and I know what pace to live my life now. Rushing and running? Neither are for me. Ease, is my new mantra, breath is my step.
Try it.

Isola Capri , Anacapri, Italia - October 2010

Now, with this kind of kaleidoscopic future I have created for myself, this inconstant, polychromatic, and ultimately fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of attitude, I'd like to take a second to talk about Kale, and why, oh why, I love it so. First, Kale, raw, has only 33 calories in a cup (chopped), 2 grams of protein and 1 gram of fiber. That, is one amazing green, because not only does one cup house all of that protein power, but it also is an AMAZING source of  Vitamin C, Vitamin A and Vitamin K. K being a vitamin not found so plentiful in foods, so its important to get it where you can, while you can. It is the vitamin which helps to clot your blood. Sound essential? Uh, yeah. Not only that, but it can prove to be considerably rich in calcium and 2 other super powerful antioxidants, lutein and zeaxanthin. So eating this delicious, hearty and healthy green can lower your chances of DNA damage, i.e. cancer causing agents.

I have seen it being served up all over Manhattan/Brooklyn and the like and I couldn't be more on the band wagon. I see it on a menu, I usually order it. So, in regards to living your life with gusto, doing what feels so right, making your heart, body and mind happy, eat some kale and buy a plane ticket to the place of your dreams and don't look back. You'll be first healthier, and then happier, for it.
In the meantime (while your saving up that cash, or putting yourself into debt, like me!):
Try this simple kale recipe from a blogger which, I think, knows a thing or two about her greens:
Raw Tuscan Kale Salad - 101 Cookbooks

Crepe in the 5th Arrondissement, Paris, France - Delicious 

First of all, Cavolo Nero is unreal delicious, also called dinosaur kale, and this particular recipe will always remind me of eating the fresh leaves from a garden in Italy.
(More of my recipes to come... I just, really really love this one,because it is hard to improve upon it, maybe an anchovy melted into the olive oil in the dressing... also there is a REAL good one in the Tartine Bakery book, by Chef Ignacio Mattos.)
Enjoy!