What the Kale?

One of the things I like about veggie co-op is that it has forced me to try new things. Who would have thought that we would like beets? I can get stuck in a rut quicker than you can think about it. I make myself buy something new and look up recipes for it. One of the things that I have found we all like, well except the baby, is kale. It is dark green and frilly looking and I had no idea what to do with it. I have several friends that like to make kale chips. I tried. That is not for me. I'll try again because I can never leave a recipe alone. I'll change a couple of things and hopefully that will do the trick and get us off those bags of yuck on the store shelves. If not, I'll figure something out. I hope.

The first time I bought kale, I used it like I would a cabbage. I cooked my beautiful, organic kale with smoked sausage and beer. Then we piled it on white rice. Yeah, there's a learning curve. Thank goodness it's a big curve. It was really good, too. But really, I was defeating the purpose, wasn't I? Fine. I'll try something else.

My friend K had a raw foods cookbook at the park one day. I know, it's an oxymoron, but what else am I going to call it? As she was leafing through it, I was sneaking peaks at some of the recipes. I saw a couple that had potential and asked her later if she would send me a copy of a kale recipe I had seen. Thankfully, there were only two kale recipes. Good thing because that book was huge and I couldn't remember what the recipe was called. I changed it, of course. I didn't have everything the recipe called for, I don't like some of the stuff in it, and really, that's just how I am. Here's my version:

Kale Salad

1 bunch kale
1 avocado, sliced and cut into chunks
1 zucchini or yellow squash or both, shredded
basil to taste, fresh or dried

Dressing

1-2 garlic cloves, pressed or minced
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup honey or to taste
lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
1 Tbls Italian seasonings or to taste

Mix ingredients for dressing until combined. Take kale off stems. Cut in to small pieces wth kitchen shears if desired. Add kale to dressing. Massage kale for at least 5 minutes. Add avocado, zucchini and/or yellow squash, and basil. Mix and serve.

You have to massage the kale if you are eating it raw. It is very fibrous and tough if you don't. Wear gloves or the honey is a huge mess to try to lick wash off your hands. Always taste your dressing before adding the kale or anything else. If you don't like it, you won't like it on the kale. Adjust to your liking, then add kale. Kale is very salty, so easy on the salt when you make the dressing. The kale will more than make up for it. The original recipe calls for agave. Use it if you have it, but start with a measure smaller than 1/4 cup. I don't have any so I use honey. You could also add raisins or cranberries or almonds or walnuts or any combination of those.

Hubby liked it, but was a little skittish about the avocado. He isn't a big fan, but he ate it. He's good that way. My friend S had given me a similar recipe, so I just kind of combined them and it turned out great. The kids ate it which made me happy. Well, except the baby. But it has veggies in it, so really, she was done before we got started. But she did take her no thank you bite and survived. Crazy girl.

Have a great day.