What is kale and how to eat it: recipes and recommendations

What is kale or kale?

Kale or curly cabbage It is a variety of cabbage which, far from fashionable, has come to stay in our gastronomic repertoire. It’s a brassica, that is, It is from the broccoli family, cauliflower and collard greens, only unlike the first two, what we eat are the leaves, not the flower heads.

It is very curious because Its leaves are hard, nothing like the delicacy of chard or spinach. Despite this, it is not hard and fibrous, but tender and juicy when we cook it.

The varieties of kale that we most easily find in markets and grocery stores are those with curly leaves, but there are also those with swollen and flatter leaves. Each one provides a different texture when eaten. Today I would like to show you some ways to cook kale so that you have ideas for Use it in all types of recipes.

Raw kale or kale

Kale can be eaten raw. raw kale It goes with almost all types of flavors, both sweet and salty, sour and bitter, so don’t be afraid to serve it in a salad with apple, lemon, raisins, carrots, corn, etc. And season with creams such as tahini or peanut butter.

Tips for eating raw kale: As the leaves are quite hard, what we will do first, after washing it, is remove the hard stems and we will be left with only the leaves.
We cut them into smaller pieces and put them in a bowl. Sprinkle with a little salt and mix by hand. In this way we will give a small massage to the leaves, which will become more tender and very pleasant for salads, accompaniments, etc., raw.

With raw kale too we can make a good pesto sauce. You just have to replace the basil (or a good part of the basil) with kale leaves cut into pieces and blend everything together with the blender. The result is a pesto with a fresh aroma and flavor, which goes with everything.

Baked Kale

One of the most popular ways to make kale is into crispy chips.

For this all we have to do is dry the pieces of leaves so that they lose moisture and become crispy.
To make kale chips, dry the leaves very well after washing them, cut them into medium-large pieces and put them on a baking tray with baking paper.
Sprinkle the pieces with olive oil (much better if you use an oil atomizer) and sprinkle with salt and the spices you want (for example oregano, cumin or basil).
Bake it in a preheated oven at 175º C for about 10 minutes. Keep an eye on it so they don’t burn and take it out when you see that the pieces are dry. Let it cool in the tray itself.

Pan-fried kale

You can also make kale chips in the pan, sautéing them from time to time, to serve as an accompaniment to any dish. They are not as dry as baked, but very juicy. It’s a good complement to rice dishes, cereals in general, etc.

Tips for cooking kale in the pan. Kale can be sautéed with many other ingredients, cutting it into smaller pieces. For example with chickpeas, lentils or beans, with vegetables such as peppers and zucchini, or with cereals such as quinoa and rice. This way we will have a much more complete dish in the same time, sautéing everything together.

Stews, stews and casseroles with kale

Kale is a very interesting vegetable for include in stews, stews and casseroles. We can use it instead of (or together with) chard or spinach in any type of legume stew, stew with potatoes, curry, etc.

Tips for cooking kale in stews: As it has a thicker texture than other vegetables, it is not destroyed by the broth, but rather we can taste it along with the rest of the ingredients that we add.
The only thing we have to do is add the kalechopped in the last 8-10 minutes of cooking of the dish we are preparing, or brown it in the separate pan and add it just before serving.

Kale or kale creams and purees

Although it is not the most common way to cook it, we can include kale or kale in our creams and vegetable purees. For example It looks very good in zucchini creams, pumpkin and mashed potatoes, cauliflower and parsnip. I like to chop it finely, sauté it with garlic and olive oil and mix it with the mashed potatoes to enrich it.

Tips for cooking kale in creams and purees. In the case of creams, it is not usually the main ingredient because it has a fairly strong flavor, but it can be incorporated into almost any cream that we prepare.
You can always add one or two leaves (stemmed, cut into medium pieces) when you are making a cream, especially with autumn and winter ingredients.