How so you prepare your kale?

Kale has always been one of my favourite vegetables, however i usually ate it cooked. I just started making kale salads. I've been mixing equal parts basalmic vinegar and olive oil for a drsg and massaging that onto the kale to break it down a bit, then add whatever fresh veggies I have in the fridge. Sometimes I add a can of mixed beans to the salad. I prefer a kale salad over a lettuce salad. With kale you actually feel like your eating food.....not "diet" food.
I make kale chips, and in my house they get devoured instantly. Everyone loves them.
How do you prepare kale?

When I have access to good fresh seafood I like to bake fish over greens. It needs to be a thinner filet of quick-cooking fish so the fish and greens will be done at about the same time. I use a pan that will go from stovetop to oven - sauté some garlic in olive oil, then add the greens and sauté to wilt them - stir in a little salt and pepper, then put the fish right on top, sprinkle with paprika and put it in the oven for 8 to 10 minutes until the fish is done. Yum.

I love massaged kale salad too, though I prefer lemon juice and walnut oil for the dressing.

When it gets cool enough for winter soups, we put greens in just about everything.

Caterpillars got all my lacinato kale this year. :mad: :mad: Still have plenty of red Russian kale though, which is really my favorite.

Sausage bean and kale soup. Other than that sauteed.

Chips, especially with smoked paprika or one of the freebie red-pepper-based spice mixes we get from Penzeys. I really like the little hint of heat and the kale stands up well to the flavor.

I like raw kale salad as well-- usually I'll slice red onion as thin as I can and soak that in cider vinegar/a little salt for 30 min or so (make quick pickled onion), then put that with my kale, orange sections, some kind of semi-dry white cheese (ricotta salata, feta, etc), walnuts and raisins. Tasty, tasty, and I really like citrus with kale. It gets better over the course of a couple days (although then I save the walnuts to add later so they stay crunchy). Sometimes I'll use toasted sesame seeds in place of the walnuts also, I like having something a little crunchy, texture-wise.

I'll throw it in stir fry, or have sausages with kale/onions/peppers, or soup-- it's getting towards soup season here and I LOVE making stock/soup.

Unsure that raw kale is easily accessible to the body, I know that some greens are not. Baby kale may be different.

I either sautee kale or make kale-chip-crack from it. Lacinto kale makes especially good chips!

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Originally Posted by Catrin

Unsure that raw kale is easily accessible to the body!

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If you mean the tough cell walls, that's the beauty of massaging it. You mechanically break the cell walls, so it's as easily digestible as cooked greens, with all the nutritional benefits of raw.

If you mean the oxalic acid, I'm not sure that's a reason to avoid raw greens (or beets, carrots, etc.), just not to OD on them.

My favorite kale salad: 1 head kale + juice of 1 lemon + 1 avocado + sea salt. Massage all together and yum!

I either saute it with a little garlic and lemon juice, add it to soups, or make a kale and potato gratin (just found the recipe this year and it is really good!).

sauteed and tossed with white beans, pasta and whatever else I have on hand, or massaged and made into a salad with quinoa, chickpeas, feta etc.

shred kale (any variety) mix with 1 or 2 Tbs lemon juice, add a big handful of sunflower seed and cottage cheese to sort of bind it together. Great on hot,
muggy, summer evenings.

I like mine sauteed in bacon fat or olive oil with some garlic (and crumbled bacon mixed in after cooking), in soup, sauteed in oil with mustard seeds, garlic, a bit of lemon juice and red pepper flakes. I tried something last year with garam masala and coconut, but I ran out of garam masala so I haven't been able to try it again.

It's also tasty cooked with sausage for breakfast. Mmm.