Kale

Stoup is good food. Homemade? Well, that’s even better

This bread soup has some vegetables in it, but it is made with beef stock. For a vegetarian version, use all vegetable or wild mushroom stock and skip the pancetta or bacon.

Oregon on a plate: From Willamette Valley Pinot Noir to cranberry bogs and filbert trees, this menu celebrates one great state!

Black-eyed peas and nourishing greens, two foods well-loved in Southern and “soul” cookery, have flavors that team companionably. Serve with baked sweet potatoes, fresh corn bread, and sliced tomatoes.

This terrific dish brings into one bowl three essential Italian foods: polenta, cannellini, and the unique variety of kale called cavolo nero—one of my favorite vegetables. The customary green in Tuscan ribollita, cavolo nero has an earthy mouth-filling flavor, as if cabbage, broccoli, chickory, and spinach were all packed into one leaf. Fortunately, this delicious and healthful vegetable is now being grown and sold in this country under a variety of names, including lacinata, or dinosaur kale (for the texture of the leaves), and black kale (for their dark hue). In this recipe, cavolo nero is braised with bacon and cannellini and served atop hot polenta. But you can just braise it with bacon, following the same basic procedure, and serve it as a delicious side dish, or enjoy it in crusty bread as a great sandwich filling.

Boneless chicken breasts team up with chewy nutrient-packed grains, lentils, and greens in this sweet and zesty weeknight meal.

For all those who can't wait to nibble at the skin when the turkey comes out of the oven, these cracklings are for you. You won't believe how insanely delicious they are as the star of this salad. Don't be surprised if you start buying turkey thighs on a regular basis, just to make cracklings.

Stuff, roll, and wrap the butterflied pork loin one day ahead. Then, two hours before the party, roast the pork on a bed of apples, which serves as a natural rack and adds sweetness to the cider jus. Don't sweat the technique: Ask your butcher to trim and butterfly a pork loin for you, or go to bonappetit.com/go/porkloin for step-by-step photographs to learn how to butterfly and roll this beauty yourself.

Let this be the dish to make a kale lover out of you. If you are a fan of creamed spinach, there is no way you won't fall head over heels for this dish. The same luscious flavors are all in play; the creamy sauce is spiked with onion, garlic, and a touch of nutmeg. Changing the leafy green from spinach to kale is a seemingly small substitute with a big impact. Like spinach, kale is packed with nutrients, but unlike spinach, it doesn't melt into the sauce; its texture is sturdier and retains its body when cooked. Crispy shallots bring another layer of texture along with their mild onion flavor.

Christensen's vinegary, buttery, barely cooked greens stay bright in color and flavor.

"Talk to most chefs and they'll say they'd want a perfectly roasted chicken for their last meal," says Sean Brock. For his definitive version, Brock starts with superflavorful heritage-breed chickens, but the key to the dish is prepoaching the bird in an immersion circulator. Because most home cooks don't have access to this equipment, we adapted the recipe to work in a home kitchen.

Farro, an ancient Italian grain similar to barley, is available at specialty foods stores and Italian markets.

First, tenderize the octopus by simmering it at a low boil for about an hour (ignore the myths about adding vinegar or a cork from a bottle of wine). Then char it on the grill to crisp the skin.

The crisp-tender texture and robust flavor of thinly sliced Tuscan kale stands up to the tart, Caesar-like dressing of this hearty slaw. Serve as a first course or as a side with grilled chicken, beef, or lamb.

Kale goes by another name, one much more dashing, especially in Italian. Cavolo Nero, black cabbage, may not evoke superhero status, but it's close. Kale does seem invincible and it's known to make the eater more so, too. It's also called dinosaur kale (also called lacinato), maybe because its leaves look like the back of a lizard. Those thin knobby leaves squeak. Do not confuse cavolo, accent on the first syllable, with cavallo, accent on the second, or you'll be ordering black horse, and in certain parts of the world will find it. Hearty and good for the spirit. I like soaked and cooked cannellini better than canned ones.

All hail kale: Research shows it turns on your body's natural detoxifying enzymes to help ward off lung and stomach cancers.