oh miss martha

you try don't you? i know you do. it works on most people. they tremble in fear of you. your perfection. your dominance. your apparent omniscience.

you don't intimidate me. sometimes you even, unwittingly, amuse me. tonight, however, i was impressed by you.

if you've ever been in the kitchen with me for more than 2 minutes, you'll be able to testify to the fact that i interpret most recipes as "advice" and "inspiration." rarely do i actually read every word of what these authors have to say. i am trying to reform myself!

sequatchie keeps giving me baskets full of beautiful veggies every week. it is seriously stretching the boundaries of my cooking repertoire. i have read more cookbooks these last 2 months than i have in my whole life. i would be happy to just eat all that veg raw or lightly sauteed with rice, but i notice josh has requested the following repeatedly: meat. pasta. boy food.

i think we can both win and here's a recipe that proves it, penne with goat cheese, kale, olives, and turkey. well, that's how martha made it, but here's what i did.

a couple notes before we start cooking together:

this recipe was from her thanksgiving issue and assumes you have leftover turkey, just a few sips of white wine, and a relish dish to contend with. so, make some extra chicken or turkey early in the week, drink some extra wine with dinner, and if you're like us, just skip the olives.

apparently, in martha world, people are hungry, very hungry. one hungry mid-western boy and i barely put a dent in this. this recipe is enough for a small army. or 6-8 if you're martha. fortunately, this reheats really well!

i tend to like lots and lots of greens. if you're like me, you'll want to add about 4 more cups of greens.

ok, let's get cooking!

get these things together:
1 pound dried penne
salt and pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
1 large onion, thinly sliced
3 small garlic cloves, sliced OR 1 1/2 tsp from the jar of minced garlic
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1 lemon
1/4 cup dry white wine
8 cups kale, or hearty green, cores removed, sliced thinly
2 cups cooked, shredded turkey or chicken
6 to 7 ounces goat cheese (chevre)


get that water boiling! while it boils, chop up your onion, wash your kale thoroughly, get it cut up, and shred your chicken.



cook pasta according to directions. remove 1 1/4 cups of the cooking water and set aside. drain and rinse pasta.

get your oil heated in a large, deep skillet over medium high and add the onion, garlic, 1 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper, and red pepper and cook about 3 minutes. your onions should smell yummy and be transparent by now.




zest the lemon into the skillet and add the wine. let that cook down about a minute. add your kale and 1/4 cup of the reserved water. cook until the kale wilts. throw in the chicken and heat through.



now for the yummyness factor! add the goat cheese and the rest of the water and stir until you have a creamy sauce.

put the pasta in the skillet, juice the lemon and add that, then keep it all moving until the pasta has absorbed most of the sauce. it's ready to eat now! serve with a little parmesan or feta cheese on top and enjoy!

i don't know how she did it, but this dish manages to be light, creamy, tangy, and totally interesting. now, that's my kind of adventure!