Sprout & Co, the restaurants specialising in local, seasonal and flavourful food is giving away bags of organic kalettes to customers this week.
With a particular focus on locally sourced ingredients, Sprout & Co operates it's own 40-acre organic biodynamic farm in Co. Kildare to supply salad leaf to the restaurants.
From mid-March, the Sprout Farm grows an abundance of kalettes, a hyper-seasonal crop which blossoms at the end of the kale plant’s lifespan. This rare vegetable is only available for 2-3 weeks of the year and signals the turning of the seasons from winter to spring.
To celebrate kalette season, Sprout & Co. is giving away bags of the kale flowers to customers in store, and co-founder Theo Kirwan has created a special recipe to turn kalettes into a simple and seasonal side dish – charred kalettes with crispy chili dressing.
Pictured: Sprout & Co founders, Brothers Jack & Theo Kirwan
Speaking about the crop, Head Farmer Trevor Harris said, “We grow kale on the farm 10 months out of the year and other varieties of leaf in the spring and summer growing seasons all of which are used in our restaurants. When the crop is coming up to this stage we are conscious not to let it go to waste.”
“It's only available for such a short amount of time - it would not be possible to create a dish on the Sprout menu around it and we'd rather it was enjoyed by our customers than to just go into compost on the farm!”
For those interested in trying kalettes, customers visiting any Sprout & Co on Wednesday 23rd of March can receive a complimentary bag with any purchase.
Charred Kalettes with Crispy Garlic & Sweet Chilli Dressing
“One of my favourite ways of cooking a green vegetable is on the chargrill or bbq. It’s a simple and quick method that creates the most magical flavour.” Theo says.
Ingredients • 12 kalettes • 3 garlic cloves sliced • 2 red chilli sliced into rounds • 1 lime wedged • 1 tsp sea salt flakes • 120ml olive oil
Dressing • 3 tbs infused olive oil • 1 tbs soy sauce • 1 tbs rice wine vinegar • 1 tbs maple syrup
Recipe serves 2 as a side dish
Method
Crispy Chilli and Garlic Dressing: 1. In a saucepan bring 120ml of olive oil to a medium heat 2. Add the garlic and chilli to the pan for 2 minutes or until golden brown, stirring regularly to keep the garlic from sticking 3. Strain the garlic and chilli, setting them aside to crisp on a paper towel 4. Combine 3 tbs of the infused olive oil with 3 tbs of the soy sauce, rice wine vinegar and maple syrup mixture and whisk together
Charred Kalettes: 1. Bring the chargrill or barbeque to a high temperature 2. Toss the kalettes in a mixing bowl with 1 tbs olive oil and 1 tsp of sea salt flakes 3. Char the kalettes until the leaves have crisped and started to blacken (approximately 3 minutes each side)
To Serve: 1. Place the charred kalettes on a platter dish 2. Spoon over the dressing generously 3. Scatter the crispy chilli & garlic on top 4. Serve with fresh lime wedges
For more information visit www.sproutfoodco.com
Slán go fóill,
Danny