Kale. That dark green leafy stuff that folks are probably most familiar with from seeing it as a form of garnish under plates in ice filled buffet tables of days gone by. It was probably used like that because it was a fairly cheap way to add some color, and the leaves are very sturdy and would hold up nicely sitting in that ice throughout the day.
Most people probably never even realized that kale is edible. And if you did happen to try some, maybe on a dare (not that I ever did), you discovered just how “sturdy” it was. In it’s raw form it is rather, well, chewy.
But if you haven’t tried it, or even if you did and were turned off by it, I encourage you to do so again.
Kale is a descendent of wild cabbage, comes in a number of varieties (and colors!) and is a GREAT source of antioxidants, in fact it’s one of the best out there with about 40% more of the free radical busting power than spinach. Free radicals, by the way, are those unstable molecules that can promote cancer and lead to other health robbing tissue damaging problems. The antioxidants in kale include lutein and zeaxanthin, both of which help the eyes and may help prevent macular degeneration. On top of that kale is packed with Vitamins A, C and K as well as calcium and iron.
Kale is pretty popular in juicing, but one of my favorite ways is to sautee it just like you might with spinach. Since kale is so hardy, you won’t easily overcook it like you can with spinach. After washing, trim the thick ribs off the leaves and cut or tear in to bite size pieces. Heat a bit of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat and throw in the kale along with some thinly sliced red or sweet yellow onion and a couple pinches of kosher salt. Give it a stir here and there as it cooks.
After about 4-5 minutes, when the onion is nice and soft, throw in a couple minced cloves of garlic and a handful of chopped almonds or walnuts and heat for about another minute will stirring to keep the nuts and garlic from burning. Drizzle with a bit of balsamic vinegar and serve. You could also throw in about a cup of cooked quinoa, freekeh, or brown rice about halfway through the cooking for a completely different type of side dish.
You can also use it raw in salads, after you clean and cut it in to bite size pieces, put it in a large bowl, sprinkle with about a teaspoon of kosher salt and massage the salt in to the leaves with your hands - you’re basically crushing, or the technical term I think is “bruising” the leaves with the salt to break up the fibers in the leaves to make them digestible and easier to chew.
One of my favorite salads using kale uses sliced red onions, some cut or roasted beets, feta cheese and a balsamic vinaigrette.
Kale is a low calorie, nutrient dense food that really is pretty easy to fix and will bring some positively healthy goodness to any meal.
If you’ve tried it, let me know how you prepared it and how did you like it.
Kale is also great chopped up and trown into a broth soup, or in a quiche.
Yea, if you like spinach at all… kale can be a great alternative, especially when cooking. It holds up much better than spinach does.
Of course I love kale in soup, but I also like to cook it quickly in just a little olive oil (you could also use water or broth) until it wilts down and the leaves start to soften. Kale is a tougher green and it won’t reduce in volume as much as say spinach would. Then I hit it with a spalsh of balsamic vinegar and a sprinkle of pepper.