OK, I "roasted" Kale leaves and they were crunchy, like potato chips. But tasted NOTHING like potato chips (before you all rush out there to get some). It was WEIRD. How in the world can you eat kale without it being bitter or tough?

Hopefully someone will have some tips for you. I've never tried kale. Was this your first time trying it?

Yes, it was my first time and I literally just got on the web and looked for recipes. Here's a few pictures of how it looked. Think CRUNCHY though.

1 Cup Chopped Raw Kale: 34 Calories; trace Fat; 2g Protein; 7g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 6g Net Carbs

I cook kale like this:
Take off tender part of leaves and throw away stems.
Wash, add about an inch of water to the pan and boil/steam covered until tender. Drain water and move the kale to the outside of the pan (I'm using a frying pay by the way)
Pour some olive oil into the center of the pan and add some chopped up garlic. Cook until garlic is tender. Add salt and pepper to taste. Stir it all up to blend oil and garlic with kale and chow down.
You can also throw in a bullion cube when cooking to add a little flavor if you like.

I do the same thing. The blanching is very important to tenderize it. Occasionally, I'll add a tiny bit (1 T) of balsamic vinegar just before serving.

Most vegetables I like cooked "tender crisp" (green beans, broccoli, cauliflower).

But kale I cook old school southern style, just like my Grammy made it:

Pile it in the sink and triple wash/rinse it. I like to pull off the stems and discard them, but my mom prefers to chop them up and add them in. Put the greens in a big stew pot with chopped onions and a piece of fatback, jowl, a big scoop of bacon grease, or a ham hock / bone. Add enough water to the come up to half the pot and cover it. Boil for about an hour to 90 minutes. Stir a couple of times.

If the kale isn't good and tender within 90 minutes, add a cup of cider vinegar and cook another 30 minutes.

All those good greens can be cooked like this - collards, turnip greens, kale (smooth or curly) or mix a couple different ones together. A little mustard greens thrown in the mix goes a long way, too.

I like to add a few drops of liquid smoke and a scant handful of crushed red peppers to the pot - but Grammy wouldn't have approved.

"Greens" are my favorite food - I cook and eat them at least once a week. And now I can use fatback or bacon grease and not feel guilty...well, dreams really do come true, don't they!?!

http://recipes.robbiehaf.com/O/573.htm


This soup is made with Kale and is delicious! It is a copy of the Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana. I have made it with the potatoes when we were not low carbing and I have made it with the cauliflower, too! It is perfect and, like she says, you can't tell the difference when you replace the potatoes with cauliflower! This soup is the best I have ever had in my whole life. ever.


Kristi

So, kale can either be quick cooked like fresh spinach or slow simmered like collards. Is that right? I've seen Rachael Ray make kale on her cooking shows and she usually quick cooks hers after removing the stems.

I watched Rachael make this soup a few days ago - Rioja Stoup and she adds some kale at the end of the cooking. The recipe looked like it could be low carbed by leaving out a few things. There is a video of her making it online but they cut out the part where she removes the stems from the kale. She kind of slides her hand along the length of the stalks which pulls the leaves off.

I found some really nice looking kale for 99¢ yesterday so I'm going to make some kind of soup with it tomorrow. I have a recipe from Rachael Ray's magazine that sounds like a good place to start but I will tweak it a bit. It's an egg drop soup with turkey meatballs. It calls for escarole but I'm going to use kale instead. I'll try and remember to post the final recipe in the soup forum.

I made the soup and it wasn't as good as I'd hoped. I don't like the turkey meatballs very much. I think the soup might taste better with Italian sausage. The kale was fine and it wilted down in a few minutes. It doesn't need long cooking at all. However, kale doesn't have any flavor and it wasn't bitter at all. It added a nice texture to the soup but no flavor. Another thing that surprised me about kale is that it has so little fiber. It seems like it would have a ton of fiber.