I love kale. My favorite way to eat it is raw in salads, but you need to know that you can’t just eat it raw right from the ground or store, it will be too tough. What you need to do first, after you’ve stripped the leaves from the stalks (you won’t want to eat the stalks) chop up the leaves and then add a tiny bit of olive oil and a tiny bit of sea salt or Kosher salt (½ teaspoon of each for a good bunch of kale) then put it in a big bowl and “massage” it into the leaves with your clean hands, or wear disposable plastic gloves if you don’t want to get them oily. Here is a Demonstration. Let that sit for about 20 minutes, then you can proceed with any of the raw salad recipes.
I just made this recipe for Raw Kale Salad with Tahini and Maple Dressing last week, minus the Brussels sprouts because I didn’t have any. It was really good. I’d make it again in a heart beat.
This recipe for Raw Kale Salad with Root Vegetables is one one of the regular recipes in my rotation. I’ve been making it for several years now. I like the combo of rutabaga, carrot and turnip, and I’ve also made it with jicama, daikon and golden beets. You can use any combo of root veggies that you like. Instead of going to the trouble to make the nuts myself, I just use these Spicy Pecans.
This next one, which I just found but haven’t yet tried, sounds really good too. It’s Thai Kale Salad with Coconut and Lime Dressing
Kale is really good in Borscht
I also like kale in Quiche
I also like Baked Kale Chips with Parmesan
I prefer the firmer texture of kale to spinach. This Kale and Ricotta Stuffed Shells with Butternut Squash Sauce sounds right up my alley. You can also use regular marinara sauce if you want.
Kale is really good on Pizza
And kale pairs really nicely with white beans in Soup (this one also has sausage).
This next recipe is on my “to try” list. You can use kale instead of cabbage for stuffed Rolls. These ones are stuffed with quinoa, walnuts and goat cheese.