Kale -- how to use it?

[Greg44]

I am on a new adventure -- moving from a vegetarian to a vegan (low fat) and trying to embrace a wider variety of leafy vegetables... K A L E, like mustard greens I have turned up my nose at them and moved past them at the super market.

Tonight I brought home a HUGE bunch of Kale. Had I know it was as big as it was I would have put it back, but I was sort of committed, so I bagged -- thinking at least it would make good compost!

How do you use it??

[redfox]

Separate the leaves from the stems. Chop stems finely, and sauté in a skillet in a bit of olive oil. Chop leaves more coarsely, and toss in when stems are tender. Toss to cover with oil, add a tiny bit of water, cover skillet for a minute or two to steam it all, and serve as a side.
Additions: garlic, salt, Annie's Shiitake Sesame Seed Dressing is superb drizzles over this just before serving.

[herbgeek]

I'm not a greens person either, but I made Kale Chips this summer and they were outstanding.

Cut the kale into squares about 1 inch square. Toss with a little olive oil and salt. Bake at 400 for 10 minutes or so. Tastes good enough to be junk food, but isn't. Only make enough to have at one sitting, because these taste horrid the day after once they are no longer crisp.

I also throw chopped kale into soups- this week's soup was a chicken broth with tortellini in it, and some chopped kale. I grated some Parmesan cheese on top when serving.

[iris lily]

Not kale, but chard: because it grows easily in our garden all summer, Ive been using it the past 2 years. I chop it up in italian red sauces. It's great o top of a pizza. Today I will be using it in a soup.

I would imagine kale is used the same way.

[Rosemary]

I find that most recipes underestimate how long it takes kale leaves to be tender. Test them while cooking, and don't remove from the stove until they are tender. You'll know. I think the discrepancy probably has to do with the size of the leaves - there's a big difference as the leaves grow larger. Also, the curly varieties of kale take somewhat longer to cook than the flatter ones like Red Russian and Lacinato kales.

I steam kale in large batches and eat plain, on my salads, and added into other things as well. My daughter loves the kale chips - if you make these, use a very light hand with oil and salt, because after the leaves are dehydrated, those are in much larger relative volume.

[Stella]

I throw it into smoothies sometimes. I made one last night with kale, cucumber, mango, pineapple and raspberry. You can't taste the kale. Even my picky two year old loved it.

[jania]

Saute as Redfox describes above or just add to a regular raw salad.

[leslieann]

Stella got me..."you can't taste the kale..." I have been trying, trying, TRYING to like kale. I have tried it many ways, including the kale chips that my friend makes and all the rest of the crowd adores. I just don't LIKE it. But I am very much influenced by the nutritional value so Stella, you are talking my language. Will try once again. Do you use RAW kale in your smoothies? And Rosemary, do you steam the kale and then put it in salads or do you eat it raw?

thanks from one who wants to LOVE kale but just, well, doesn't.....

[Greg44]

I remember several years ago I went to the "vegsource.com" convention in Southern CA. I was a new vegetarian and was a bit like a fish out of water. The group was way more "earthy" than I had expected...

The hotel brought out their big platters of cut up veggies and garnished with Kale -- I was surprised to see the platters completely bare before dinner -- the guests also ate the Kale decoration. I remember chuckling to myself - that these people really are serious vegetarians!

Some great ideas here -- Lesleann I haven't even tried it yet and I can relate to your post! I must admit I have been an Iceberg/Romane lettuce kind of guy!

[Weston]

I'm not a greens person either, but I made Kale Chips this summer and they were outstanding.

Cut the kale into squares about 1 inch square. Toss with a little olive oil and salt. Bake at 400 for 10 minutes or so. Tastes good enough to be junk food, but isn't. Only make enough to have at one sitting, because these taste horrid the day after once they are no longer crisp.

One of my daughters (who has been a vegetarian for 17 years) came home to visit this past weekend and made us Kale chips for the first time. Everybody except one of her sisters loved them. That included her cranky carnivorous old man.