Kale

With its extravagantly ruffled leaves, kale has an air of opulence; it is very rich in nutrients, one of the most healthy vegetables we can eat. Kale, along with brussels sprouts, is a vegetable whose flavor is vastly improved by frosts. (I wonder about all those fields of brussels sprouts that I saw in California, a place of mild climate; no wonder so few people have tasted their true flavor.) When I cook kale, as I did last night, I know that late fall has arrived.

Though I tilled the garden, it is still producing: kale, brussels sprouts, turnips, leeks, fennel, swiss chard. I haven't yet dug the main carrot or beet crop, and onions are still in the ground, very late to mature because of the cold summer. I enjoy how my eating has turned from the fresh tomatoes and salads of summer to heartier dishes, meant to warm the body and heart.