Red and green: kale and radicchio

Admit it: when you encounter certain colors, in foods, you expect certain flavor profiles (I hate that phrase). Green things are supposed to taste, well, "vegetal." White things should be creamy or cheesy. Black things: anise or licorice. Blue? Don't eat it (blueberries are purple, remember?). Purple: grapey.

Pink and red: sweet.

It's not just me, is it?

Ok, anyway, the first time I saw a head of radicchio, with that beautiful reddish purple color, I just KNEW it was going to be sweet. I took it home, chopped it up, put it in a salad...
Well, you know how I reacted. It's one of those dirty tricks Italian cooking and Mother Nature play on us from time to time.
But now that I know what to expect, I like that bitterness, when it's controlled (who doesn't like controlled bitterness, for that matter?). I put it in salads with endive (white, and pale green, almost a creamy taste), and walnuts, for example.

You can change the bitter to sweet by cooking it (like so many other things). When it's grilled, or panfried, radicchio takes on a lovely sweetness that is magnified if you add balsamic vinegar to it. It is with that in mind, and out of necessity, that this vegetable side dish was born.

I had cooked up some kale early in the week, for a dinner party. When I looked at it, I realized there was not nearly enough of it for us. So, reaching into the fridge, the radicchio that was destined for the salad bowl, became a cooked vegetable. The endive made its appearance with apples and walnuts, in a play on waldorf salad.

So here's what I did. Slice up a head of radicchio as if you were going to make coleslaw. Heat up about two tablespoons of olive oil in a pan, and add four cloves of smashed, peeled, garlic. Add the radicchio and stir it around. Cover the pan if you have to. The radicchio will reduce in volume, and take on the color of a dark purple bruise.

Not very appetizing sounding, is it. Wait. We're not done. I will spare you the chemistry, but the change in color is the result of a reaction going on with the pigment that gives radicchio its color. You can restore that color... with acid. Acids act as a "mordant" or "fixative" for many vegetable pigments. This works with red cabbage, too. Just pour in about 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar (to provide sweetness: you could use other vinegars too), and cook it to a reduction, with the radicchio. The color will mostly come back.

Now, add your kale. You will have done this beforehand. Cooking kale is simple. You need a big pot, and lots of water. Cut off the stems where they meet the leaves, and then tear the leaves off of the central stem. Drop them into boiling salted water, and cook for at least ten minutes. It is difficult to overcook kale, but keep an eye on it. If the color starts going from green to brown, stop. Drain the leaves, let them cool, chop them, and stir them into the radicchio.

The colors are stunning in a startling way. DARK green, and purple, in a vegetable. Add the interplay of the garlic and the vinegar, and you have something that transcends its individual components.

Try it. These are good winter vegetables, and you'll introduce yourself and your friends to a combo and style you will not have tried before