What the kale am I doing?

[EmersonFitbit]

I've never had kale before. I catch a lot of slack here at Fitbit HQ because of that. 

I've looked at recipies online, and I can't exactly figure it out, so I was hoping you all could help me out with some personal answers to a few questions:

• What does plain old kale taste like?
• If you had to pair kale with one or two other ingredients, what would they be, and how would you make it?
• Do you have any advice on how to slowly begin to incorperate it into my life? 

Thanks!

[AKamerer]

I'm not a kale connoiseur by any means, but I like it. It has a slightly bitter (but not unpleasant) taste, kind of like a milder mustard green.

One of my favorite low-cal lunch options is a flour tortilla spread with a few tablespoons of hummus, then loaded with fresh spinach and baby kale. A handful of kale goes well in any salad.

My favorite way to incorporate it into a cooked dish is to make a batch of chicken, white bean, and kale soup. Here's a quick-and-dirty recipe for the crockpot:

1 chicken breast

1 can of great northern beans

4 cups rough chopped kale

1 onion, chopped

3-4 celery stalks, chopped (optional)

Spices: rosemary, thyme, parsley, salt and pepper

Use chicken stock for your liquid

You'll probably want to remove the stems, especially if you're eating it raw. That said, I don't mind the stems and just chalk it up to some extra fiber in my diet.

You can also make kale chips if you rub kale leaves with some olive oil and sea salt and bake them, but I've never quite been able to get it right. Mine always end up a bit chewy and not crisp like everyone suggests.

[SunsetRunner]

Kale and I have a love hate relationship. I want to love it, but most often hate it. 

I've tried it in many savoury dishes but I just can't seem to get on with it. Without drowning it in some sort of sauce (which defeats the purpose) I just don't see why I should use it instead of spinach. HOWEVER, I do have a number of smoothies that I make and i chuck it in as a wee 'super boost' and manage to mask its slightly bitter taste and balance out what could otherwise be a very sweet breakfast smoothie. 

(Sidenote: I do quite like Kale chips, but again, drowing kale in olive oil and rock salt just seems counter intuitive) 

Smoothie 1. 

The green machine - celery, kale, green apple, cucumber, lime

The "all in one" - strawberries, blueberries, banana, kale, red apple

the "ah crap I'm running out of time to use all my fruit and veg" - spinach, kale, kiwi (2), green apple, green grapes, cucumber, squeeze of lemon or lime juice. 

Hope this helps!

[WendyB]

Im not a big fan of Kale. do like a little in a salad but not a lot

Some of my friends like to make chips. here is the recipe they use

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/176957/baked-kale-chips/

[carl669]

i like kale in salads and as homemade kale chips.

for the kale chips:

remove the middle stem and cut up the leaves into about 2" strips.  place on cookie sheet and spray with olive oil (i've tried to drizzle it on but it gets too soaked.  they sell pump misters on amazon).  sprinkle on some salt.  bake at 350 for about 8-10 minutes.  scarf.

[HelenaFitbit]

I stew it just like I stew swiss chard. 

• 3 tomatoes
• 1 very large onion
• 1 bunch (about 3 cups) of roughly chopped kale
• 2 sausages (optional)
• 2 cups water
• SP+ spices

1. Caramelize the onions and add the chopped tomatoes.
2. Add SP, spices and the water (and the chopped sausages if you're using them).
3. Bring it to a boil until it becomes a pretty thin sauce and the sausages are puffy.
4. Add the Kale and reduce to really low heat to steam the whole pot.
5. Serve with rice and a spritz of Lime juice.

[DerrickS]

Kale Smoothies!

Kale doesn't have an incredibly strong flavor so it is really easy to mask it with fruits or vegetable that do. One of my go-to recipes for smoothies is:

-1 Frozen Banana (freezing the banana give the smoothie a better texture).

-A healthy handful of Kale.

-Frozen mango or pineapple to mask the Kale flavor.

-A scoop of chia seeds.

-Half an apple.

-Peanut Butter to help make the smoothie thicker.

-Coconut milk and/or coconut water.

DISCLAIMER 

Spoiler

Make sure you have a high powered blender or else you will have small bits of Kale in your smoothie.

[MRose]

Like many others, apparently, I could never really get into it, because it's SO bitter! But if you buy baby kale, it's a lot better.

I either put it in soup (my favorite being Paleo Zuppa Toscana, using parsnips instead of potatoes), or into scrambled eggs. It's also decent in cole slaw, but as @SunsetRunner mentioned, after you add mayo it seems kinda pointless (although, mayo...)

Side note: After finishing my second Whole30, I tried store-bought mayo because I had some left in the pantry and didn't want to waste it... NOT worth it! Ugh, it was just disgusting! If you haven't already done so, try making your own homemade mayo!!

[HelenaFitbit]

I vouch for making mayo at home, but adding it to a kale salad it's a bit weird to me. 

[Mcore]

I haven't tried Kale before, does it taste like Chard if you eat it in salads? 

[HelenaFitbit]

@Mcore It's a bit more bitter and has a stronger grass taste in my opinion. 

[Mcore]

Really? Hmm, I don't know if I like that.  Does the taste change if I eat it raw instead of cooking it with other vegetables?

[RM2014]

We have used a handful chopped (1 - 2 cups) in smoothies (a green component), chopped up and put into soups and stews, and in stir frying:

strip the stalks of all the leaves, chop into smaller pieces but not needed to be finely chopped, add 1 - 2 T extra virgin olive oil, and a few cloves of garlic (chopped). Toss a bit in the frying pan and take off heat once the leaves have softened and are bright green in color.  

Pretty tasty this way. Serve as a veggie side or as part of an egg dish or egg scramble. Add to other stir fried chopped veggies and serve as a hash.

You can add in some chopped walnuts, etc. for extra crunch, if you want.

Note: you can use all veggie scraps (stems, peelings, et al) to make a vegetable stock. This, you can freeze or put in refridgerator for later on for other veggie prep.

[Mcore]

Sounds good @RM2014! I went to the market yesterday and I didn't find any Kale, so I'll go back on Friday and hopefully I can try one of your recommendations. Thanks!

[tara_elise]

Kale chips.....drizzle in a little coconut oil and sprinkle with paprika! Bake in the oven for about 15 mins... 🙂

[kalefan2013]

Try making Kale and White Bean soup, I never ate Kale nor made a soup before. But everyone loves this one. Saute  fresh garlic with the onions in the same pot before you add in the other ingredeants. Add as much liquid until it is the consitanciy you are looking for

Enjoy

• Kale Soup

Simple and Delicious Kale Soup

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 cups chicken broth

• 1 small tomato, chopped
• 3 cups loosely packed chopped kale
• 1 cup canned white beans, rinsed and drained
• Add all ingredients to list

Directions

1. Melt butter in a pot over medium-high heat. Saute onion in hot butter until tender, 5 to 10 minutes. Stir chicken broth and tomato into onion.
2. Heat broth mixture to near-boiling and stir kale into liquid until completely submerged. Cook until kale wilts, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir beans into soup and cook until heated through, another 2 to 3 minutes.

Footnotes

• Cook's Note:
• Substitute your favorite canned beans for the white beans and season the soup with your favorite spices.

[ChaChaAlMode]

I love raw kale salad!  The secret is to molest the kale with an acid base first so it is almost ceviched!  I have two recipes, one from a Iron chef winner, shhhhh, don't tell him ;).   The first one is a lighter salad, best in summer.   

Massage lemon juice into kale and allow to stand for 2-24 hours.  Finely chop sweet peppers (add a spicy one if you want, but not too many)  Green onions finely chopped toss all together with kale add a mixture of lemon juice and olive oil and toss.  Just before serving add freshly grated parmesean and toasted pine nuts and top with a nice flakey or granular sea salt or himilayan salt for texture.  

Second salad is my own.  Kale with Tahini, Massage kale with a little vinegar (not really important which kind, but keep using same kind in the tahini sauce.)  Again let stand 2-24 hours.  Toss in red onion finely chopped sweet and spicy peppers and toss with tahini dressing (tahini paste, water, vinegar, finely chopped garlic  lemon or lime juice for an added kick and sea salt.  This is the base of ingredients, you mix as you like the taste.) Toss on top of kale and veggies, top with sea salt an toasted almonds or pistachios (eliminate salt if nuts are salted).   

I have served both recipes to people who hate kale and it passes the test.

As a bonus I actually save those burly stems and juice them.  And I do prefer the curly purple russian kale to the dinosaur kale, personal preference really.

[smhermione]

I like to put kale in soups, minestrone (which I use a Rachael Ray recipe for) and a copy of Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana.  Hard to focus on the taste when it has other good things around it.