Nutrition
Plant Characteristics
Kale is a green leafy vegetable that belongs to the cruciferous or cabbage family. In fact, kale is probably the closest relative of wild cabbage in the entire cabbage family. Kale and collards are essentially the same vegetable, only kale has leaves with curly edges and is less tolerant to heat.
Nutrition
There are curly or dinosaur varieties of kale - all of which differ in taste, texture, and appearance. Curly kale has ruffled leaves, a fibrous stalk and can be green or red in colour. It has a lively, pungent flavor with bitter, peppery qualities. Dinosaur kale is the common name of the kale variety known as Lacinato. It features dark blue-green leaves that have an embossed texture. It has a slightly sweeter and more delicate taste than curly kale.
Sourced from: http://www.doctoroz.com/question?query=kale
Preparation and Storage
Storage
Kale should be stored in the refrigerator crisper wrapped in a damp paper towel or placed in a perforated plastic bag. Kale should not be washed before storing, to prevent it from going limp. Cooked kale will keep for two days refrigerated. Fresh kale will keep for 10-14 days when stored at 32f and 90-95% humidity.
Preserving
Freezing
For information on how to freeze kale (and other greens) go to: http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/freeze/greens.html
Recipes
- 1/2 lb of red kale
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp Maldon Salt (less if you are using a fine salt)
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and get two baking sheets out. I line mine with parchment paper but that is optional.
- Cut the tough rib off the back of the kale leaf by holding the leaf on its side, holding the two halves of the curly part together and slice the rib off the length of the leaf.
- Cut or tear the large leaf into pieces.
- Wash the leaves and then dry them in a salad spinner or with paper towel.
- Put the dry, washed leaves in a large bowl and toss them with the olive oil to coat.
- Sprinkle them with salt to your taste and toss to make sure they all have oil and salt.
- Spread them onto the baking sheets and bake at 375 degrees F for 10-12 minutes.
- After 10 minutes take the pans out of the oven and put the crispy pieces in a bowl to serve. Check all of the pieces and any that have soft spots still, turn them over and place them back in the oven for another 3 minutes. You will want to make sure that the whole piece of kale is crispy. Repeat this until all the pieces are crispy – remove fully crisp and put soft ones back in the oven.
Other Variations
Below
are three recipes for sauces that will make your kale chips taste
delicious. Combine the ingredients and drizzle the sauce over the
chips, rubbing it into the leaves, and bake as instructed
above.
Sweet and Salty Asian Sauce
1 bunch kale
2
teaspoons soy sauce
4 teaspoons honey or agave syrup
2
teaspoons of apple cider, sherry or rice vinegar
2 teaspoons lemon
juice
2 teaspoons sesame oil
2 cloves of garlic, minced or
pressed
Island-Inspired Kale Chips
¼ cup coconut oil
1
teaspoon soy sauce
A few dashes of hot sauce
1 teaspoon freshly
grated ginger, or ¼ teaspoon powdered ginger
¼ teaspoon garlic
salt
Nacho-Style Kale Chips (adapted from
http://www.food.com/recipe/nacho-kale-chips-461619)
This sauce
must be combined in a blender or food processor to chop the nuts and
fully combine the ingredients.
1 cup cashews, soaked for several
hours
¼ cup lemon juice
1/3 cup nutritional yeast
1
teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon garlic salt