Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Kale Recipe Shoutout

Dear readers,

Many of you heart kale as much as we do. We bet you have some really good kale recipes up your sleeve that ought to be shared with the world. Well, here's your chance. Consider this post an open forum for your best kale recipes -- raw, cooked, salads, soups, we want them all. Give us your recipes in the comments section as well as links to the most delicious and inventive kale recipes you've seen online. Then let's eat them all! Prizes will be awarded for the most delicious and inventive. (Disclaimer: there are no actual prizes, except the satisfying warmth of a bellyful of kale.)

If you need inspiration, check out the Kale and Friends tag on the right-hand side of the blog, or try this:
Kale with Tomato Peanut Sauce

1 bunch kale, stems removed
olive oil
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped.
3 large chopped tomatoes
3/4 cup peanut butter (smooth or chunky -- your choice!)
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
salt

Heat up a little olive oil in a medium saucepan, then add the tomatoes. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes reach sauce consistency. Stir in the peanut butter and cayenne. Salt to taste.

Meanwhile, chop the kale and heat a wok with a little olive oil. Stir-fry the garlic and kale over medium-high heat. When the kale is wilted to your liking, stir in the tomato sauce. We served ours over brown rice and roasted okra. Yum.

Yours in kale,
Hannah & Phoebe

14 comments:

McMoots said...

1 bunch kale, stems removed

Ain't that always the way... the stems are actually my favorite part of kale. Usually I blanch them, then braise in a bit of stock and butter and serve 'em like they're asparagus. Fibrous, but yummy.

I've been trying to get the timing down to cook kale stems and chard stems together, but so far, either the kale is underdone or the chard is mushy.

kasha said...

Hannah and Phoebe,
I'm a big fan of kale myself. Anyone who knows me well knows that I'm an even bigger fan of potato chips. I know they're fatty and salty and genetically modified, but I'm a sucker for crispiness. And so let me offer you my favorite kale preparation: Crispy Kale. I think I learned about crispy kale from Aryn Bowman, but as with all my new cooking attempts, I cross referenced what she told me with some online resources - and a number of them really do say that this kinda kale could substitute for potato chips. Now, I'm not actually going so far as to substitute anything for potato chips in my life, but it's a nice additional crunchy factor for your meal.
So the idea is you get a bunch of kale - the curlier and purplier the better, in my opinion. Destem those suckers using the pinch-between-your-thumb-and-forefinger-and pull method, just because it's so satisfying, like knocking over dominoes or running your fingers over piano keys. Break up your kale a little bit more, but they don't have to be small pieces, they'll shrink in the oven. Preheat your oven to about 375. Toss your kale pieces with enough olive oil to coat, but not drench, each piece. Add in a little salt and pepper and some finely minced garlic and spread it all out onto a cookie sheet. You want your pieces to have their own space - no overlapping - for crunchiness sake. Bake in the oven until they turn into little melt in your mouth crisps (about 10-15mins). enjoy.

aryn said...

Kale is one of my favorite foods in the world, and I am always looking for new ways of eating it. So, of course, I am excited about this thread. I have two things to offer: Raw Kale Salad and, similar to Kasha, dehydrated kale. First Kale Salad: good kale, take out the stem, chop it up into bite size pieces. The sauce is what is key and I am well know for never having the proportions right for anything but here are the ingredients: finely diced raw garlic and a lot of it, tamari, olive oil and nutritional yeast. Put all these things together and be generous, figure out what ratios work for your taste and toss the kale with them. I could eat this recipe all day long I love it so much. Secondly, sauté kale with this sauce and then put it in a food dehydrator and dehydrate--this makes the best homemade veggie booty ever, that shit is the BOMB (is this an appropriate context to use a four letter word?). Hope you enjoy.

Unknown said...

Hannah and Phoebe,
I have to admit that I never knew much about kale, but was obviously intrigued by the fact that you have a blog dedicated to it. So, I finally did a little research, and now I better understand the love that you and your followers are expressing. So, I decided to try out a recipe of my own. From this online cookbook (http://www.vitalita.com/cookbooks.html) I tried the "creamed" kale recipe with a few small adaptations. To counteract the intensity of the kale, I sauted 3 onions instead of one, and I put the almond butter in before I put it in the food processor (mainly b/c I had raw almond butter, and the flavor was too strong). What was a little rough for a newbie like me was quickly turned into delicious and healthy comfort food. I hope you enjoy!

I Heart Kale said...

What bounty-thanks, ladies! We haven't tried everything yet, but Zucu, we made the creamed kale last night and it was delicious and a keeper recipe for sure.

Tanya said...

Mmmmmmkale.

Step 1: Make BLTs
Step 2: Sautee an onion (chunked) and a red pepper in bacon grease until it starts to brown
Step 3: Add 1/2 lb of kale and a little bit of basalmic vinegar. Mmmm, kale.
Step 4: When kale starts to wilt, toss in 1c cooked beans (I like garbanzos) and 1c halved cherry tomatoes

When hot, serve over rice.

Anonymous said...

Oh wow, this blog is right up my alley. I am a huge kale lover. My favorite way to eat kale everyday is to put it in my oatmeal. That may seems strange, but it has become my staple food. I just put the sliced up kale (with stems of course)in the boiling water at the same time as the rolled oats. Then I put some cinnamon in that, and topped off with yogurt and bananas, it is the best breakfast I can think of. Hope you enjoy. It is also good with cooked apples in it.

I Heart Kale said...

Kale in your oatmeal--now that's hard core! We'll have to give it a try this weekend...thanks for visiting, Maddy!

ellen said...

Yes, I too heart kale. My new favorite way is a simple saute with ume vinegar served with scrambled eggs for breakfast.
Your shoutout inspired me to post my greens and beans recipe on my brand new blog. http://elleneats.blogspot.com/
It is a great well balanced dinner.

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much for doing this! I am on South Beach and I am enjoying some kale chips right now. I wouldn't have seen the recipe if not for your blog!

I Heart Kale said...

Thanks for visiting, Emily, and good luck with the kale cramming!

Anonymous said...

I am looking for more recipes for making Kale chips in my dehydrator. I just made my first batch and they need a little "help". Does anyone have any suggestions?

Unknown said...

I juice my kale to drink, obviously, but I wasn't sure what to do with the left over pulp. I have experimented a bit and I throw the leftovers into pasta, salads, and soups especially. If I'm not feeling up to a challenge I just chop some up add a little Bragg's Apple Cider Vinegar (mother included) and some Sriracha - delicious!

gardengreengal said...

if you want more kale recipes, this site seems to be a good place to visit:
www.kaleeffect.com