Kale? And a bonus question!

[icelore]

My boyfriend picked up greens for our bearded dragon on his way home from work today, and came home with a large bag of kale on accident. Since that's not all that great of a green for a dragon, I have a little over a half a bag left! I've never eaten kale before and have no idea what to do with it - suggestions

Comments

[brunettepet]

Kale usually isn't bitter but it's quite chewy raw. I like sauteeling it up in a small amount of olive oil and sauteed garlic with a squeeze of lemon or a splash of vinegar.

I'm enjoying this massaged kale salad with mango and pumpkin seeds, too: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/aarti-sequeira/massaged-kale-salad-recipe.html

Endives look like little torpedo shaped heads of lettuce http://endive.com/ Your picture looks like frisee to me http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-frisee.htm .

Escarole usually has larger, less spiky leaves (at least the escarole at our farmer's market).

[icelore]

I thought the little torpedos were just heads that hadn't opened up yet, picked and eaten at budding. I grow a few kinds of lettuce, and they are either round ball or oblong when they start. If you don't cut them, they keep growing. lol

[the_punk_hippie]

Kale chips!
I make them in my dehydrator (it takes about 3 hours), but you can also do it in the oven - I can't offer instructions or even a link (REALLY bad internet right now), but there's plenty of instructions on Google :D

[icelore]

But what will I do with my potato chips then? :P

[sassy_cat]

I'm not a fan of raw kale, but I do like to saute it then fold it into mashed potatoes, sorta like colcannon. It's also good hidden in eggs with cheddar.

Here's a good description of all the chicories.
http://localfoods.about.com/od/chicories/tp/typeschicories.htm

[icelore]

Kale colcannon sounds perfect.

Also thank you for the link! Good to know I'm not nuts. :D

[a_boleyn]

I love using kale in soups. Here are two I've made and really enjoyed.

Kale and white bean soup

Kale and Italian sausage soup

[icelore]

Both those look good! Thank you. :D

[helenatroy]

I grab a bunch of kale in one hand, get a pan with hot olive oil and a lid and a pair of scissors and I cut the kale in little ~1" pieces into the pan from the sticky end first. Then I cover it with a lid for about 3 minutes. Since the sticky ends go in first they get good & cooked, if you're lucky they get browned (and taste like sesame!) and the greens at the top get steamed. So easy!

[icelore]

Well, that's easy. I will try it tonight. Maybe add a bit of garlic. Thanks!

[helenatroy]

It has to be. I'm the laziest cook in the world :)

[desperance]

Definitely add a bit of garlic. Ginger too, if you have any. Chilli flakes are also good (or fresh chillies, if you have those). Kale can take a lot of spice. I totally curried some last night, with cumin and coriander and garam masala too. (I tend to discard the stems; you can certainly eat them, but if you don't grow your own they're often really fibrous.)