Kale

One thing I like to do is melt two or so tablespoons of butter and saute some diced onion with a couple of handfuls of dried, sweetened cranberries. Tear up the kale and wash thoroughly, but leave it very wet. When the onions are done, stir in the wet kale until it's warm and wilted. Salt to taste and yum!

Plus, I put it in soups and also in with the ground beef for lasagna.

Steaming such vegetables tends to retain the largest amount of nutrients while also making other nutrients more bioavailable than when raw. You could steam first, then season to taste.

If you prefer boiling greens, use a preparation that would also encourage you to eat the cooking liquid. Soup would be good.

Anyone ever try kale in green smoothies? I've run across some recipes that include kale that look interesting.

MacAllister said:

Wash, shred coarsely, put in an oven-proof dish, sprinkle with sea salt, finely chopped garlic, and about a tablespoon of olive oil, cover tightly with foil, pop under low heat (150-200 F) for an hour or so, serve topped with little crisp bacon bits, chopped and toasted hazel or pine nuts, and/or balsamic vinegar.

Click to expand...

Yes please.

MacAllister said:

Wash, shred coarsely, put in an oven-proof dish, sprinkle with sea salt, finely chopped garlic, and about a tablespoon of olive oil, cover tightly with foil, pop under low heat (150-200 F) for an hour or so, serve topped with little crisp bacon bits, chopped and toasted hazel or pine nuts, and/or balsamic vinegar.

Click to expand...

YUM!!!

TheIT said:

Anyone ever try kale in green smoothies? I've run across some recipes that include kale that look interesting.

Click to expand...

I do all the time. You'll need a heavy-duty blender (I have a Vita-Mix). Otherwise, it's like drinking lawn clippings.

katiemac said:

Haven't done it but thought about it. I blend my own fruit smoothies every morning and thought about throwing some in, same with spinach. But so far I'm too lazy.

Click to expand...

I bought myself a Magic Bullet blender and have been going to town on smoothies. Baby spinach leaves work great in the fruit recipes, even in creamy smoothies with yogurt and soy milk. The fruit taste buries the vegetable taste completely. I'll let you know how kale works for me. I picked some up from Trader Joes and have been wanting to experiment.

Kale will require a little extra water to blend properly. Oh, Swiss chard is fantastic in smoothies. It has a very mild flavor.

All these recipes sound amazing. I usually chop kale and put it in soups, stews, etc.

I just made kale chips for the first time a few weeks ago. They were surprisingly good.

Perks said:

One thing I like to do is melt two or so tablespoons of butter and saute some diced onion with a couple of handfuls of dried, sweetened cranberries. Tear up the kale and wash thoroughly, but leave it very wet. When the onions are done, stir in the wet kale until it's warm and wilted. Salt to taste and yum!

Click to expand...

The only change to that for me is instead of the butter, mince and brown a strip of bacon and use that to sautee the onion etc. Tasty!

If you have young tender leaves just use them in a salad, but for the dark large leaves, do the light sautee, and strip out the stem.

I grow kale and use it in all kinds of cooking, rice pilafs & risottos, pasta dishes, with other veggies in sautées and stir-frys. Also, a great and easy side-dish for a meal:

Sautée your choice of mushrooms in a little olive or sesame oil, with some chopped onion. When the mushrooms are beginning to soften, remove the skillet from the heat, pile in as much chopped kale as will fit, cover and let sit for about five minutes. The ambient heat cooks the kale perfectly, and finishes the mushrooms as well. The kale cooks down in volume.

Swiss chard works well in the same manner. I'd bet collards also would work, but I haven't tried them. You can do this with spinach, too, but spinach cooks much faster and becomes slimy when overcooked. I've come to prefer kale to spinach in just about any kind of cooked dish.

caw

blacbird said:

Sautée your choice of mushrooms in a little olive or sesame oil, with some chopped onion. When the mushrooms are beginning to soften, remove the skillet from the heat, pile in as much chopped kale as will fit, cover and let sit for about five minutes. The ambient heat cooks the kale perfectly, and finishes the mushrooms as well. The kale cooks down in volume.

caw

Click to expand...

This sounds wonderful. Just so happens I have mushrooms and kale in my fridge. Thanks for the recipe.

I'm on a kale kick lately - it makes a great wrap fried in its own juice. I also cut the thick impossible to cook stems off when I make my weekly bowl of brown rice and throw it in, very finely chopped.

Chopped, Sweet, Vidalia Onion
Red Pepper Flakes
Chicken Broth
Pinch of Sugar
Real Bacon Bits

Bring first 4 ingredients to a Boil

Throw in the Kale

Let it all cook down (until Kale is tender)

Sprinkle Bacon on top and Serve with Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese

We got our first snow overnight, not much, 1/2 inch or so. My veggie garden is long gone, EXCEPT for the kale, which approaches being immortal. I cooked a seafood prima vera pasta tonight, with veggies and five or six leaves of kale harvested with snow on them. They were excellent. Every northern gardener should grow this vegetable. In places south of maybe Iowa, it probably would last all winter, and it's about as easy to grow from seed as dandelions.

caw

blacbird said:

Every northern gardener should grow this vegetable. In places south of maybe Iowa, it probably would last all winter, and it's about as easy to grow from seed as dandelions.

caw

Click to expand...

Do you know if slugs like it? They usually decimate my gardens.

Slugs adore kale.

Given the harshness of Texas summers, I'm instead attempting an early-winter crop of chard, which slugs also love. The slugs do not, however, love the winter.

Slugs also like beer. Good beer.

About 6 to 12 inches from your plants, dig a hole the size of a 500ml (1/2 quart?) yogurt or sour cream container. Put a 500 mL container in the hole so that the top of the container is level with the ground. Pour about an inch of good quality ale into the container.

Do this every 2 - 3 feet if you've got a serious infestation.

Slugs will almost always go for beer over veggies. And once they're in the beer pool, they can't get out even if they want to.

I've never had any luck with beer. Maybe there are too many slugs or quite possibly, they are on to me.

TheIT said:

Anyone ever try kale in green smoothies? I've run across some recipes that include kale that look interesting.

Click to expand...

Or a creamed spinach imitation. Tried it last night, with swiss chard and onion in the mix, and it's quite good! Set the blender on chop or grind. Cook in a pan and top with some sauce (or cheese or greek yogurt).