Last weekend I gave you ice cream, so it's only fair that I do something healthier this weekend. And kale isn't just healthy, it's awesome. If you missed it, kale is so great that the people at Chik-fil-a felt threatened and tried to shut it down. Really.
My great discovery of the week was kale salad. What is that you might ask? Basically you replace your regular lettuce (or arugula for the snobbish among us) with strips of raw kale. You need to marinate the kale in an acid to break down some of the fibrousness, but at the end, you get a delicious salad made with a superfood. I had my kale salad plain, but I bet it would be amazing with dried cherries, toasted pecans, and crumbled goat cheese, or with avocado and tomato. You can also add any sort of protein you like - shrimp, chicken, tofu, tempeh, slices of lunch meats, etc. - to make it a full meal.
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| Delicious Kale Salad |
A previous, but no less exciting discovery, was homemade kale chips. You can buy them at stores like Whole Foods, but they're ridiculously expensive, and a large head of kale costs about $2, so you decide. Kale chips don't taste or have the exact same texture as regular chips, but they're pretty good in their own right.
Kale Salad
Ingredients
Kale
Olive oil
Lemon juice or balsamic vinegar (or other vinegar you like in your salad dressing)
Sea salt (optional)
Other salad toppings if desired
Equipment
Cutting board and knife
Large bowl
Instructions
1. Wash your kale and shake off the excess water. Cut off the tips of the stalks if they look brown or dried. Then slice the kale into 3/4 inch ribbons and place cut kale into the bowl.
2. Drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice or balsamic vinegar. I just did it by eye, but I would say if you need quantities, about 1 Tbps of acid and 1 Tbsp of olive oil is good for a very large salad for one person or a regular sized salad for 2.
3. Massage the oil and vinegar or lemon juice into the kale leaves with your hands to get it thoroughly mixed. Let sit for 15-20 minutes (now is a good time to prepare your other salad toppings if you have them).
4. Sprinkle with sea salt if you want (I have found this adds some great flavor, but you really don't want too much), then add any toppings you might have, and enjoy.
Kale Chips
Ingredients
Kale
Olive oil
Sea salt
Spices (garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, paprika, or whatever other flavorings you want)
Equipment
Salad spinner or towels to dry the kale
Cutting board and knife
Baking sheet (lined with a silpat if you have one or parchment paper)
Oven
Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Wash your kale and shake off excess water. Use your knife to de-stalk the kale - cut along each side of the thick stems to separate them from the large leaves. [The stems won't cook into nice thin crispy chips so you want to take them all out. But don't throw them away - save the stems, cut into 1/2-3/4 inch pieces and saute with olive oil and garlic for a great and easy side]. You can also even use your hands to rip the leaves from the stems. Then use your knife or hands to cut p kale into chip-size pieces.
3. Dry the kale leaves in the salad spinner or with towels [you need as much moisture gone so they will get crispy when you bake them].
4. Place kale on the lined baking sheet so that the leaves, when spread out, don't overlap (you will likely have to bake in multiple rounds or with multiple baking sheets at one time). Drizzle with olive oil (probably about 1 Tbps per sheet) and toss with your hands to coat all the leaves, or you could spray with cooking spray, ideally olive oil cooking spray, to coat evenly. Sprinkle with sea salt and any spices (I've used garlic and onion powder and liked that, but the plain are good too).
5. Bake until edges are brown but not burnt (about 10-15 minutes).
6. Eat still warm from the oven for the best chips, or allow to cool fully before placing into an airtight container (tupperware or ziploc bag), in which you can store them for a week or so.
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