Making the Most of Kale

courtesy of Dreamstime

There are three types of kale, ornamental is the stuff you see taking over beds in public places for the duration of fall until spring. The two types we eat are curly; easy to spot by its tight curly edges, and dinosaur kale also know as Lacinato or Tuscan kale, which has dark green bumpy leaves. For either of these kales you need to remove the stems, and according to my friend Char (who knows these things) you should massage the leaves as well. Not that I doubted Char for a minute, but the Huffington Post advises massaging your kale as well. 

I prefer dino kale, but when you buy bags of kale (and I confess,I sometimes do) they generally are curly kale, and have an annoying amount of stemmy pieces which is why I don’t recommend them. To keep your kale (and any leafy greens) fresh, when you get home trim the ends of the stems, and rinse the entire bunch in lukewarm water then shake dry. If you do this daily your greens will stay fresh longer, though it’s best to eat them as soon as possible.

Curly kale is good for kale chips as it can stand up to oven time a bit better than it’s more delicate cousin. Making kale chips is super easy, tear the kale away from the stems in good sized chunks, toss with oil and whatever seasoning you like, and bake in a low oven (200°) and bake for 20-25 minutes. You can store them in an airtight container, but in my house we usually eat them all right away.

We all have heard about kale being packed with nutrients, one cup of chopped kale contains 33 calories and 9% of the daily value of calcium, 206% of vitamin A, 134% of vitamin C, and a whopping 684% of vitamin K. It is a good source of minerals copper, potassium, iron, manganese, and phosphorus.  It is also a versatile veggie, one that can go from a raw salad, to a baked chip, to soup, and stand up to being roasted with hard vegetables like winter squash. When I make it I often just heat some chicken stock in a large pan, toss in the kale and sauté it in the stock for a few seconds, then cover it and let it finish cooking which takes about five minutes.  This method works with any type of kale. If you want to add kale to a smoothie, just toss it in, it will turn your drink a strange color (especially if you’re using dark berries) but you won’t taste it.

Have fun with it!, Add kale to soups and stews, toss it with those veggies you’re going to roast, and sprinkle some kale chips on your salad or baked potato. Its mild flavor means it goes with almost anything, and also makes it kid-friendly. It would be great added to an omelette, like spinach. I haven’t figured out how to add it to a dessert, but maybe you could sneak some into a brownie…