Raw kale salads

[heidih]

Raw kale salads have been all over the internet for a few years, I first tried the one in Melissa Clark's In the Kitchen with a Good Appetite. I was impressed. I prefer this raw salad with lacinto (black or Tuscan) kale. Recently Whole Foods has been featuring decent sized bunches of a variety of organic kales for $1.50. Though a bunch is too much for one person, the salads keep well. I have varied the dressings and add-ins. I don't do the bread crumbs with a batch I am saving, but sometimes add them when serving Have you been on this train and how have you tweaked it? The one today was dressed with a lemony hazelnut oil and cider vinegar dressing with garlic and lots of cracked pepper. Dried cherries and some shaved cheese is also in there.

[Plantes Vertes]

I cannot speak from experience as a heap of raw kale just defeats my morale, but I have heard from its apostles that it's wise to give your greens a thorough massage with dressing some hours before eating. Breaks down the roughage. A bit.

[heidih]

I cannot speak from experience as a heap of raw kale just defeats my morale, but I have heard from its apostles that it's wise to give your greens a thorough massage with dressing some hours before eating. Breaks down the roughage. A bit.

That massage thing has been going around and I have never done it. Really with the lacinto kale I do not find it an issue. I don't feel like it is a chewing workout. I dress it, leave on counter for maybe half hour tossing when I walk by, and serve. Have you used the black kale?

[Lisa Shock]

I tend to slice it very finely and go the coleslaw route with kale. The 1953 Joy of Cooking has some good boiled dressings made with fruit juice that make tasty slaws.

[annabelle]

I'd like to do this since I like bitter greens. My family greets kale with a pinched look, however.

[gfweb]

I'd like to do this since I like bitter greens. My family greets kale with a pinched look, however.

Mine too. Unless its cooked with bacon, white wine , garlic and a few red pepper flakes.

[MikeHartnett]

I like the lemon, mustard, garlic dressing on this one. Stands up to the kale well.

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2012/01/vegan-marinated-kale-chickpea-salad-sumac-onions-recipe.html

[judiu]

Has anyone made kale chips? They're seasoned with soy sauce, I think, and maybe garlic and baked to crisp. I've eaten them, but wish I had a recipe! TIA!

[liuzhou]

Has anyone made kale chips? They're seasoned with soy sauce, I think, and maybe garlic and baked to crisp. I've eaten them, but wish I had a recipe! TIA!

There are instructions for making kale chips in this thread.

[Dejah]

I've been a big fan of green stuff but have never eaten kale until this summe. Had it in a stir-fry at a friend's house, with kale from her garden, and I love it! It reminded me of gai lan. I came home with a big bag and have been stir-frying batches. Today, I am going to try it in a mixed veg salad. Happy to see this thread.

[MelissaH]

One year of CSA pretty much destroyed kale for me. When you make a kale salad, does it still look like a big overwhelming bunch of green? Or does it start looking more approachable? I still can't face kale, and it's been nearly three years since our last CSA share.

[JAZ]

The author of Smitten Kitchen was on NPR a few days ago talking about raw kale salads. Here's the piece, with her recipe. Personally, this quote about sums it up for me:

"I don't actually think that a world where people are eating a lot of kale versus a lot of, I don't know, potato chips or bacon is a bad place," she says. "I just don't understand the fervor."

[mkayahara]

Caesar-style dressings, especially heavy on the anchovies, are a good thing to try with raw kale. You need a good bit of salt to tame the bitterness, and a good hit of umami to make it, well, tasty.

[sadistick]

It is important to eat kale raw to get all its health benefits.

We usually make a big batch of this salad a few times a month and it will last for up to 5-6 days in the fridge.

Chop kale

Grate fresh garlic

Salt

Pepper

Good EVOO

Good Red Wine (or your preferred type) vinegar

Massage all into kale

- When you consume, toss with grated cheese of choice, we prefer Parm or Romano, and add either dried cranberries/cherries/raisins and some toasted nut (we like pumpkin seeds or almonds).

[JAZ]

It is important to eat kale raw to get all its health benefits.

I thought that kale, like spinach and chard, contains oxalic acid in amounts that interfere with the absorption of calcium and iron, so that it's actually better for you if cooked.

[sadistick]

It is important to eat kale raw to get all its health benefits.

I thought that kale, like spinach and chard, contains oxalic acid in amounts that interfere with the absorption of calcium and iron, so that it's actually better for you if cooked.

I don't eat Kale for its Calcium or Iron, but more so for its extreme amounts of Vitamin A, C, and K, and all of the Carotenoids and flavonoids.

Kale does have oxalates which would prevent the absorption of calcium if eating other dairy products, but not from the kale itself.

It can cause bloating if eaten raw (as most other veggies in the family) but with the massaging method and the breakdown of the fibers that doesnt seem to be an issue.

[RobertCollins]

We eat a lot of Kale and Chards. I heard a chef say it stored well in a plastic bag. I bring in the bunches, wash them and divide to two person batches and put them ,wet, in a 1 gallon ziplock. As I close I try to gently expel most of the air in the bag. I have kept these for three weeks in the crisper.

So when they are priced right, don't be afraid to get them.

[annabelle]

Kale and escarole are the greens of choice in many restaurants since they practically have a nuclear half-life compared to other greens, particularly leaf lettuces.

[weinoo]

What about salting it before using it in a salad?

I don't know about anyone else, but if I see kale salad of some sort on one more menu...

[MikeHartnett]

What about salting it before using it in a salad?

I don't know about anyone else, but if I see kale salad of some sort on one more menu...

I'm a big fan of salting and rubbing olive oil in, well before dressing and serving. Agreed, though. It feels like other greens don't exist anymore. I like kale, but it isn't the end-all.

[heidih]

I guess I started this topic, At market today organic lacinto was nice. I have plowed through half the bowl just salt, garlic, sour lemon, olive oil. Ni massaging.  needed; just a little rest & toss. Rest will be with coco curry fish rice and lentils.

[weinoo]

On 9/11/2013 at 5:33 PM, weinoo said:

What about salting it before using it in a salad?

I don't know about anyone else, but if I see kale salad of some sort on one more menu...

 

As I said almost 8 years ago...

 

 

[heidih]

Its a menu -your choice

[heidih]

I know - so much great produce now and I am enjoying tomatoes , corn, cucumbers, stone fruits in salads----but a nice bunch of Tuscan kale drew me in the other day. Same method as my opening post. Just made it and I could eat just this for rest of day. My only old lemon tree which has been sickly for years, this season, decided, despite drought, to produce the most juicy flavorful, seedless small lemons. So good 

[scubadoo97]

On 9/11/2013 at 1:00 PM, JAZ said:

I thought that kale, like spinach and chard, contains oxalic acid in amounts that interfere with the absorption of calcium and iron, so that it's actually better for you if cooked.

 Also contributes to kidney stones but I ate it tonight in my version of caldo verde because it taste great even after having 2 stone episodes over the last few years.