tuscan kale and cara cara oranges

The farmer's market here is open year round, but it gets a little spotty this time of year, apparently. There's one guy who's there, rain or shine, first to arrive, last to leave. During the fall he had the pluots. Now he's got some nuts and dried nectarines as well as a whole lot of citrus. All of it is local, organic, and the most expensive is about a dollar a pound. The blood oranges have been a regular purchase and I've been eating them as dessert, since the tart and sweet is a really nice finish to a good meal. I also have been getting a variety called Cara Cara (named apparently for the area it originated from, in Venezuala), which have a reddish tinged flesh and are extremely sweet and less tart then standard navels.

I also picked up some Tuscan kale, which is long and skinny kale without a lot of curl to it. It was recommended in the latest issue of Bon Appetit, but I didn't figure that I'd be able to actually find it. The recipe they used to highlight suggested basically roasting it, much the way I approach aspargus, saying it would turn sweet and nutty. I may still try it, but this is what I did.

In a non stick everything pan, I put some thick sliced bacon, got it somewhere close to crispy, but more importantly, the pan full of bacon grease and bits. I then put a few leaves of the kale in there, treating them basically like bacon. Finally, I turned the heat down a bit, and fried two eggs (also from the farmer's market, the color and flavor of the yolk is out of this world). Then I made it all into a sandwich. Wow. The kale really is amazing, if you can find it, get it. Then an orange and some tea to finish it all off. Mmm.

I still have raddicio (two varieties), which I think is going to go into a risotto with the dried nectarines and some smoked gouda (no smoked mozarella at the store, sadly).