Kale for President

November 6th, 2012 | Posted by Alison Spath in Vegetable Lovin'

Kale Friends with Benefits

If more presidential candidates had a campaign slogan like that one…

So! Kale.

Kale

10 years ago, if you’d have told me that one day I will LOVE eating this pile of greenery, I would have laughed in your face.

“No thanks”, my 23 year old self would have said.

Or better yet, “No way.”

In fact, 10 years ago if you showed me these green leafy stems, I wouldn’t have had the faintest idea what they were.

Glorious Kale

I don’t know, some kind of… lettuce? Yes, lettuce. That’s my final answer.

Kale? Isn’t that a university in Connecticut or something?

Yup, it’s kale and yes, I’ve written about it here many times before.

A few days ago I made sauteed kale with onions and garlic and I realized that once upon a time, I NEVER would have eaten this pile of green slop.  I definitely wouldn’t have squealed and jumped up and down and turned cartwheels in my kitchen when my sauteed kale was ready either.

Cartwheels, people.

So if you look at kale and think “yeah, right”, it’s true.  You can turn cartwheels over kale too. You just have to know to make it.

Knowing how to do cartwheels helps too.

Kale is so stinking good for you, you MUST eat it!  Vitamins A, C and K, calcium, iron, antioxidants, potassium, folic acid.  You better tell me when to stop because I could keep going.  Do you see why Kale should run for president?  Kale keeps its promises.  Kale is completely qualified to make you feel awesome.

To start, I prep kale just like I do lettuce. Tear it up, give it a shower and then give it a couple turns in the salad spinner to dry it off.

Kale Gets a Shower

In a large, deep pot like a dutch oven, heat up a couple tablespoons of oil (coconut or olive) while you dice an onion and slice (or mince) a couple cloves of garlic.

Diced White Onion Sliced Garlic

I was in a garlic slicing kind of mood today.  Or more accurately, I was in a I-don’t-want-to-wash-the-garlic-press kind of mood today.

Let your garlic and onions saute on medium low heat until slightly soft, your rinsed kale will wait patiently.

Kale is Patiently Waiting!

(I’m not sure I can say the same thing about myself and waiting patiently.)

When your vegetables are ready, start piling your kale in.  Don’t fret that it will quite likely fill your entire pan.  This is normal and expected.  Do not panic.  DO NOT PANIC!

Fill Up Pan with Kale

Keeping the heat at medium low, gently stir your kale around to coat some of it with your oil, garlic and onions. Put the lid on your pan and then twiddle your thumbs and/or practice your cartwheels.

When you peek under the lid in about 5 minutes, you’ll see that the kale is cooking down the same way kale chips do.

Kale Cooking Down

Top with a little salt and garlic powder too.  Yes, there’s garlic in the pan already, but at my house, we don’t know the meaning of “garlic breath”.

Simply Organic Garlic Powder

Come closer so I can breath on you.

Continue to stir kale, garlic and onions with a spatula or spoon.  When it looks like this (about 15 minutes), it’s time to eat.

Kale Cooks Down

This was my lunch today, served with two over medium eggs (that were supposed to be over easy) and one slice of sesame Ezekiel toast,

Lunch Today

(360 calories, P.S.)

I am totally voting for Kale.

Do a cartwheel (or two), and then it’s Time! to Eat! Your! Kale!

Side of Sauteed Kale

Kale cooked this way is so wonderfully chewy and delicious, knowing how good it is for you is simply icing on the kale cake.

Try it, and if you don’t like it, I will give you your money back (that you spent reading this post) and/or invite you over to laugh in my face.  That will probably make me laugh too though, and since I’ll probably be eating kale when you get here, I will likely spray you with the kale and onion juice that is going to come flying out of my mouth when I laugh.

Sorry about that.

I’m not sorry I made you try kale though!  You won’t be sorry either.


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