Let’s just call this week, “Kale Week” at our home. Did you catch Monday’s soup post with ground chicken, kale and brown rice? Kale’s been a regular in our fridge, along with spinach, romaine lettuce, cucumbers and tomatoes, but I’ve been using it more in what I will call, “noticeable dishes”, such as the soup. In the past, I’ve always chopped up kale finely and added it to traditional dinner rotation dishes so that the family couldn’t tell what it is nor taste it. However, these days, I’m gettin’ bold with kale.
The other day I was texting my bride (ok, she’s not MY bride, but my recently married dear friend) and she shared with me that she bought some kale and asked how I use it. So “Kale Week” is for her. :)
A few weeks ago, thanks to the suggestion of my BFF, I went ahead and sauteed dinosaur kale (also known as lacinato kale, Italian kale, Tuscan kale, Tuscan cabbage, or black kale). It’s simply sautéed with garlic, olive oil and just a hint of salt and pepper. It’s exactly how I cook our spinach but I never thought to sauté kale in this way. When I sauté pea sprouts, in addition to olive oil and garlic, I add chicken broth for extra flavor. While I didn’t do this with the kale, it’s definitely something I would recommend trying.
Dinosaur kale looks quite different from curly kale (also known as borecole) because of it’s curly leaves. It tastes different too and personally I prefer the dinosaur kale over curly kale but you’ll have to experiment to see which type of kale you enjoy in different types of dishes. Oh, and in case you didn’t know this (I didn’t), kale is a cabbage. It’s in the same family of vegetables as brussels sprouts, collard greens, broccoli, and cauliflower. Kale is high in lutein, vitamin K, beta carotene, vitamin C, and rich in calcium. It’s also a good source of iron. (Source: Wikipedia)
I feel great when I eat kale!
I originally served this sauteed kale as a side to pork chops but it makes a great side dish to any protein. It also tastes great in stir-fry. My husband ate the sauteed kale without grimacing although he commented that the stems were a bit chewy. I think he does his best to eat what I cook, even the healthier side dishes knowing that I cook them with our nutrition in mind. Even Bebe E ate some of the leafy kale chopped up into tiny pieces! If she can do it, you can too!
PHOTO: Left – purple kale; Right – dinosaur kale.
- 1 bunch dinosaur kale
- 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
- 2 – 3 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
- Salt, to taste
- Black pepper, optional
- If you prefer, remove the stem from the kale. I enjoy sauteed dinosaur kale with the stems on.
- Rough chop kale.
- In a large pan, heat olive oil, on medium-high heat. Add garlic and kale. Sautee until the leaves are cooked through, about 5 minutes.
- Season with salt, to taste. Add black pepper, optional.