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Just because the Holidays may seem long gone, and the days of reminiscing the memories of the past year have come to a halt, does not mean that the days of celebrations and holiday parties should be a thing of the past. It always seemed odd to me that we tend to wait till the end of the year to have an abundance of wine & dine parties.
We celebrate the end of a year with good food and good friends, and bring in the new year with champagne and cheers. Why not celebrate the days of march, whether it be the gloomy, windy ones or the bright, spring ones? This is kale crostini is the perfect appetizer to serve at a new kind of shindig. The kind where you don’t wait till for Holidays to be in a daze with old and new friends. The combination of leafy, green kale paired with creamy, white goat cheese is the perfect couple of bites to munch on in between conversations, not of what the old year was or what mistakes we’ve already made this year, but of what the new season has to offer.
No holiday soirée is complete without some beats. Lana del Rey is that ideal blend of smokey and sweet for that in between winter and spring feeling, matched by the smokiness of the grill and the sweetness of the syrupy, dark balsamic reduction. These sultry sounds move back and forth effortlessly between rich smokiness and sour sweetness. The beauty of Lana’s music is the ease as which it can evoke so many different emotions within minutes. The crostini does much in the same, in that it awakens all of your taste buds, the sweet, the sour, the salty and little bit of bitter. The remixes added below pay tribute to Lana’s playful yet depressing essence while adding their own unique flavor.
Beats:
Materials:
Baguette loaf (slices cut diagonal)
Kale (hard stems removed)
Extra virgin olive oil
Goat cheese (at room temp)
Shallots (optional)
1 cup Balsamic vinegar
½ tablespoon brown sugar
Methods:
1. Brush baguette slices with EVOO and toast until crispy.
2. In a bowl, drizzle kale with EVOO and toss with salt and pepper.
3. Grill kale on a grill pan until some grill marks are visible.
4. If using shallots, cut in small slices and grill as well.
5. In a small saucepan, combine balsamic vinegar and brown sugar and bring to a boil, then simmer until a syrupy consistency is achieved.
6. Assemble crostini: spread softened goat cheese on toasted bread, place a few slices of grilled shallots, and a few leaves of grilled kale, drizzle with balsamic syrup and enjoy!
