Sunday, June 20, 2010

Eat More Kale

I’ve always had a love/hate relationship with kale: The love part being more wishful thinking (I really wish I loved kale), and the hate part being more of the truth (I really don’t like it that much). Recently though, I discovered the kale chips from Prana Café in Newton and I’m obsessed. I find myself buying bunches of kale each week at the farmers market and making them in huge batches at home. While I’m happy that I finally found a way to enjoy kale, there’s still a problem: the chips are really the only way I can tolerate it. After seeing the millionth “Eat More Kale” bumper sticker the other day, I decided that it was time to lent it out and really embrace kale for the wonderful gift from nature that it is. I've officially declared July “Eat More Kale” month and by the end of the month I’d like to not only have eaten kale every single day, but also to have discovered new recipes and ways to prepare it so it can become a part of my regular diet.

Suggestions anyone? I’d love to get some good recipes prepared before the month starts.

6 comments:

  1. oh my god.. you've just made my day, danne... seriously. i have a kale/green smoothie every morning and was just talking about how if i ever walk down the isle a kale bouquet would be the way to go! (haha)

    kale is my favorite! we have 5 different varieties of kale on the farm... which you are more than welcome to try and i guess a visit in july only makes MORE sense now :)

    p.s. this lady is mad about kale: http://www.365daysofkale.com/

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  2. Danne, we should totally make kale soup. It's a Portuguese staple!

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  3. Lucky you Jocelyn, looks like we're having dinner the first night of July so get ready for many courses of kale haha

    Jess, thanks so much for that link, I've been looking through it all night and getting pumped! Can you send me your kale/green smoothie recipe?

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  4. Kale chips! I made these and can vouch that they are amazing:

    1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
    1-2 teaspoon salt
    3 tablespoons olive oil
    2 bunches kale, rinsed with stems removed

    Cut the kale into 2 - 3 inch pieces and then mix the vinegar, salt and olive oil in a large bowl. Swirl the kale pieces around in the mixture until they are all covered. Place on a baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 20 min. If they aren't crispy then hit them at 400 for a little bit. Experiment with the temp and timing.

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  5. I was going to suggest a smoothie, as Jess said. I've made smoothies with spinach and they are soooo good. I assume kale will work pretty much the same way! You can experiment with various frozen fruits and different flavors of yogurt and juice, but this is basically what I used:

    (makes one pretty large serving! enough to share with a friend)

    1 frozen banana (strawberries too)
    a handful of blackberries (I also tried mango)
    1 cup vanilla yogurt
    a big handful of spinach / kale
    about a tablespoon of flax seed powder
    enough juice to cover the goods (I tried cran-raz; I also used soy milk)
    tablespoon of honey is optional
    And Blend!

    It's so yummy, and you really can use whatever. It comes out pretty thick the times I've done it, so if you want a lighter one, obviously add more liquid. Enjoy :)

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  6. just came across a really great raw blog (glowing temple) while looking for foods to make my gluten-free boyf.... look at this yummy looking kale and avacado salad

    can't wait to hear how this goes!

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