I Love Kale!!

[Animal Lover]

Okay, found it properly maked today and cooked it tonight. I minced 2 cloves of garlic and chopped fine one medium onion. Minced up two good sized slices of bacon and saute'd it until translucent. Salt, pepper and chopped up Kale. Covered it. Had to add butter and a bit of olive oil too as well as salt & pepper of course. I can't say I loved it, but it was ok. Hubby ate all of his. I think I will save the rest to put into a soup and then freeze the soup for colder weather. I like swiss chard better than kale. And it is about the same price. Oh, also noticed more items going up 20 per cent higher again this week from last at the same store. It is just getting to be so difficult. I am glad that I have a lot put away but I am increasinly worried about people who have lost their jobs. Our income is low and fixed, so I just have to keep cutting back and back some more. Not much left except to give up the internet and tv. We don't have anything special either just basic stuff. So good luck to all. AL

[Animal Lover]

I had more Kale and wouldn't want to waste it, so I simmered it in water with just salt today until aldente'. Drained well added butter and salt & Pepper. Hubby and I both liked it, so I bagged it and froze it to put into winter soups. I guess this proves that sometimes the simpliest things are the best. Bless you all for introducing an old bird to a new taste. AL

[ChristieAcres]

Great ideas for Kale!!! I let mine go to seed, harvested the seeds, and was surprised to see hundreds of seedling growing in the path, in the wood chips... Just a few days ago, I dug up a small trowel of them, separated the seedlings carefully, and have begun planting them for my Fall garden, also Lettuce Mix (I mixed up some great varieties of lettuces together and broadcast them), and Spinach. Even if Winter has been forecast early due to La Nina, I'll still get some harvests in before the 1st freeze.

[Aunt Hazel]

Kale is very good for the liver.

[Animal Lover]

My favorite way is to steam it and then serve with vinegar and/or lemon juice. Yum.
As an aside, I planted some this spring and what I have looks way more like mustard or turnip greens. The package said Russian Kale and it isn't the coarse blue curly kale that I love. Fair warning.

Mine wasn't blue or curly....maybe that is why I did not think it was wonderful?? I did cook it like all of the others. We love spinach and beet greens and all lettuces. so it just seems odd that we really didn't care for it. AL

[Rumspringa]

We love kale too and here's a recipe I had to share!

Baked Kale Chips
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt or a coarse salt (like sea salt)
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic or garlic powder
3 large handfuls kale, torn into shreds
1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
Preparing to bake. Preheat the oven to 350°. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Combine the salt, paprika, and garlic in a small bowl.
Wash the kale. Rinse the kale leaves, dry it more with paper towels. Those leaves should be bone dry.
Oiling the kale. Put the kale leaves in a large bowl. Drizzle over 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Massage the oil into the leaves. You might need more. You might have larger hands than I do. Use your judgment.
Bake the chips. Arrange the kale chips onto the sheet try and slide it into the oven. Bake until the leaves are crisp to the touch but still a dark green. (When they turn brown, they turn bitter.) Check at the 12-minute mark, to be sure.
Remove them from the oven. Let them cool a bit. Eat.

[Essence]

Love love Kale. Just had some last night. Grandson, 2 yrs, (stole) off the table of some I had chopped for dinner. He likes it raw.

So I did the olive oil saute mentioned several times. I'm thinking of trying the roasted version soon. I roast broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and zucchini so think the kale would work just the same. Drizzle olive oil on pan, lay single layer and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast at 375 til soft and as much darkened color as you want appears on the leaves. I like more darken, adds flavor.

Just thought- bet this would be awesome chopped into a potato dish after the roasting!

SOOOOOO good! and easy.

Rumspringa- just read your post- my version is just before the crisp, but your version sounds great also. Bet it would be great with crisp bacon bits in the potatoes.

[maddymae]

Discovered I loved kale with my first fall/winter garden this year. It was very easy to grow and very happy to hear it's easy to seed. Hope I get another batch as I want to try the chip recipe. DH won't eat it cooked any kind of way, even in soups, but will eat it raw. Seems I like it hot and he likes it cold! MM

[ChristieAcres]

This is a GREAT THREAD! I am going to plant a LOT more Kale this Spring.

[I'llFlyAway]

Go on foodnetwork.com and type: New style caldo verde; seriously the best soup. It has tons of kale and fresh herbs, it is sooo flavorful. It calls for either Linguica or Keilbasa I used Linguica because that's what I found at Sam's club.
IFA