Let's talk about kale. It's packed with iron, calcium, and other super nutrients—but it also adds a delicious bitter green depth and texture to all kinds of dishes. Maybe you’d like to eat more of it, but you’re not sure where to begin.
For starters, don't wait until you come across a mouthwatering kale-centric recipe to buy the stuff. Just grab a bunch and have it ready to throw into a few of the dishes that are already in your rotation.
I find that the prewashed and packaged stuff doesn't last as long in my fridge—and I'm also trying to minimize how much plastic packaging I go through—so I buy fresh bunches of kale and immediately prep it. Here's how I do:
Pull the leaves from the stems, wash them in a bowl of water, then spin them dry.
Line a bowl with a paper towel and pile in the leaves. But don’t pack them too tightly—the leaves need breathing room to stay fresh (divide them into multiple bowls if needed).
Top the kale with a damp paper towel, cover the bowl, and refrigerate it. Now it's ready and waiting for the next time you fancy some greens.
And greens make nearly anything better: grilled cheese sandwiches, grain bowls, frozen pizza, pasta.... When incorporating kale into a dish, I like to first dress it like a salad with oil, vinegar/citrus juice, salt, and pepper. Toss it all with your hands, and be aggressive, because this makes the kale more tender. Then drop the kale directly into a pot of soup, sauté it on the stove (along with garlic, shallot, sesame seeds, tomatoes, whatever!), or crisp it up in the oven for about five minutes.
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