Kale. So I am not going to lie, but I have never been a fan of kale. I do like the milder flavor of lacinto kale, but regular kale is just always too tough and bitter for my pallet. So the last time I used a super market delivery service, they must have been out of lacinto kale, and I ended up with purple kale instead! So what to do? Obviously I cooked it! AND I even found a way to like it!
We have all heard about all of the many touted health benefits of kale. It can help to lower cholesterol and the risk of heart disease. It has antioxidants like quercetin and kaempferol. It has alpha linoleic-acid which is an omega 3 fatty acid. It has known cancer fighting compounds and is also beneficial to your eyes. It is chock full of vitamins A, K, C, B6, B1, B3, manganese, calcium, copper, potasssium, magnesium, iron and phosphorous.
One of the important steps in preparation of kale that many people overlook is to massage it. I mean literally get your hands in there and massage chopped kale. It softens the leaves and makes it much more palletable and easier to digest. The simplest way to do this is remove the fiberous stems, chop up the leaves and sprinkle a littel salt and drizzle olive oil. Using your hands, massage it. You will notice the volume of your kale will shrink within a couple of minutes. So go ahead! Play with your food!
I actually cooked it in a little bit of bacon fat that I had rendered from cooking bacon in the morning. It really adds a wonderful smoked flavor to the dish.
Ingredients:
1 bunch of kale
1 tbsp olive oil (for massaging)
2 pinches of sea salt
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tbsp grainy old fashioned mustard
1 clove of garlic
1 tsp bacon fat for cooking (optional)
Directions:
Start with removing the stems from your kale. You can chop those up and reserve them for stock, so don’t toss them out. You can even feed them to your dog!
In a medium sized bowl, add the kale, salt and olive oil. Massage for a few minutes. You will notice that after a few moments, it will have less bulk.
Heat up your saute pan with bacon fat (lard) or olive oil. Whichever you have on hand. Add in the kale and cook it down.
Add in the garlic, red pepper flakes and grainy mustard and continue to cook until wilted down. Add a little salt to taste.
Ready to serve!
Kali Oreksi!
on xenia street 