I remember that line from Sesame Street. The context is long-gone, but I can still hear the fuzzy muppets' voices in my head having this whole conversation about a big sale on kale. Yes, perhaps I do need therapy.
Anyway, kale is one of the most nutritionally-packed foods around. It's easy and quick to prepare, and there really isn't any reason for you not to try it. Those beautiful green leaves can be stemmed and chopped crosswise into ribbons in no time. Then you can toss them into soup (they work well with vegetables, lentils and rice), or wilt them as a side dish.
Kale is not in the least bit shy, nor is it the sort of vegetable that will put the back of its hand to its forehead and wither if you leave it in the pan a couple minutes too long. With that in mind, it needs some bold flavors to set it off - so here we go!
Kale works beautifully with my standard, "crush together a rinsed anchovy fillet with some coarse salt and garlic to make a paste, heat in olive oil; rinse the kale and toss it in the pan with the other ingredients still slightly wet. When it wilts, sprinkle it with crushed red pepper, a squeeze of lemon oil, and eat."
But maybe you want something different. How about kale with a sesame-miso dressing? Rinse and chop the kale as described above. Put a little canola oil in your pan. Before you put in the kale, mix together:
2 t. light miso (soy) paste (usually found in the refrigerator section of larger stores; once you buy a container, put it in the fridge and it keeps forever)
2 T. sesame oil
2 t. rice wine vinegar (seasoned or not)
1/4-1/8 t. grated fresh ginger
Optional: 1 t. honey if you like a sweet dressing, 1 t. sambal oelek (Asian hot sauce) if you like it spicy; a couple of teaspoons of peanut butter would also add a nice flavor.
Wilt the kale in the pan. Just as it's finished (it turns a deep emerald green and gets nice and tender) toss in the dressing and stir to combine. Garnish with sesame seeds and serve as a side with your favorite Asian-marinated fish, chicken or meat. (This would be excellent with some soba noodles in broth, too.) I'll be back tomorrow night. Until then, I'll see you at the market!
Thanks for the great ideas, because our garden is exploding with kale! My latest way to use it is raw in smoothies. Combined with enough fruit, it adds interesting green flecks without tasting too vegetabl-y.
ReplyDeleteHello, I was searching "Big Sale on Kale" because I was blanking on where it came from and yours was the first to pop up on Google. Thank you, it was going to drive me nuts. I normally know, and have a habit of saying it a little too often when talking about sales... but someone asked, and chased the info right out of my head. :)
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