Food thoughts: Kale

With Fall here and winter just around the corner, there are so many new foods to experiment with! I do have to say that I'm becoming more adventurous in the kitchen thanks to my cooking class. I'm learning so many great things!

So my "Food Thoughts" are born. My hope is to share my adventures and maybe give you all a little confidence or maybe just a few ideas. I don't know it all, so leave comments to help me (and everyone else) out!

My first food = kale! What an incredible leafy green veggie! It's full of sweet goodness for your body. In fact, it's one of the top 20 superfoods. It's loaded with vitamin A, C, K and beta carotene. It's a form of cabbage and has a very earthy, robust flavor and tastes nothing at all like cabbage :)

I wouldn't suggest eating it alone or as the main part of a dish. Since it has such a strong flavor, you really need something to balance it out. The other night I sauteed several cups of kale with garlic and onions, chick peas and a bit of crushed red pepper. It didn't taste terrible, but I wouldn't make it again. The chick peas didn't have enough flavor to balance the kale. Lesson learned.

There are some great things you can do with it though! Add kale to a soup or hearty dish where you would otherwise use spinach. You can use it in a salad, but don't eat it raw! (I guess you can, really, it just may not taste great)

Here is a great way to make a sauteed salad:
Heat about 2 tbsp olive oil in a skillet
Add about a cup of diced apples
toss in kale and arugula
salt and pepper
maybe a few fresh herbs - chives sound good :)
Saute until greens are wilted, serve as a side with meat

Please let me know what other ideas you have for kale!