My lips are all tingly, we had kale for dinner. Or, rather, with dinner, because we had a little bit of wild, bloody, brother-in-law meat, and we felt like sexy savages and we also had kale, and the kale involved bacon and lemons and chilies and it was fantastic.

The winter 2009 edition of Edible Vancouver has been moving about my apartment for all of winter 2009 up to now, and in it there is a recipe for lemony kale from Campagnolo, which is a fabulous new restaurant that everyone who’s anyone has been to and raves about, though I’m clearly not anyone because I haven’t been there, because this is not the kind of blog for which I get free meals or even very much attention, and also I am poor so I can’t pay for the food on my own. There’s got to be a way to remedy that. The free meals thing, of course – my paycheque is supposed to remedy the poverty thing, but for some reason, it does not.

Anyway. This recipe for kale, it’s been calling to me, but every time I go to the market to get kale, it’s always wilted. Fortune smiled on me yesterday, however, because there amongst the cabbages and other green things, there were bunches and bunches of gnarly, leafy goodness. You’re supposed to make this recipe with guanciale, which is cured pork jowl, but I’m normal and only have bacon in my fridge. Turns out, that’s plenty good enough. More than good enough even. So here’s my version of things: It’s kale for the layman.

Campagnolo Lemony Kale

(Adapted from Edible Vancouver, Winter 2009)

• 2 to 3 slices of bacon, thinly sliced
• 1 lb. kale, washed, large stems removed, and blanched
• 2 small or one large lemon(s), zest and juice (two to three tablespoons)
• 1 tbsp. good olive oil
• 1 tsp. red chili flakes
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Fry bacon over high heat until crispy. Add the kale, reduce to medium-high heat, and sauté kale until hot. Add the lemon zest, juice, olive oil, chili flakes, and salt and pepper. Taste, adjust seasonings as needed, and serve hot, alongside something equally tasty.