Kale should have a fresh green (or purple) colour with crisp, unwilted leaves. Remove stems on the kale before you start cooking as they can be a little tough. Kale can be substituted for cabbage or spinach and makes a great dish when sautéed with garlic, a little soy and/or a sprinkling of chopped roasted nuts.
Fennel & Kale Gratin with Parmesan Croutons – 04/08/2020
An interesting recipe idea from Ricardo, courtesy of our CSA partner Rosine. It mixes fennel and kale in a delicious and nutritious gratin which can easily become vegetarian with the use of vegetable, instead of chicken, broth (made with scraps from your Arlington Gardens CSA basket of course!)…
Quinoa kale patties – 04/08/2020
From our friend Laure: if you have kale (or other greens) and some left over grain (rice, millet, amaranth) or quinoa you can transform it all into hearty little savory cakes. The link is to a blog worth exploring for delectable ideas called Yummy Supper by Erin Scott, a food and lifestyle photographer from Berkeley, California. She offers up a collection of simple, seasonal recipes that happen to be gluten free.
Caldo verde, veggie style – 10/07/2015
A long-standing farm member and author of the food blog Nana Marmelade, Anaïs Berzi serves up a vegetarian version of this classic Portuguese soup made with greens of your liking (collards, kale, Swiss chard, spinach, etc.)…
Sesame Kale Salad – 14/07/2014
Last year, Sherri Stark, a partner at our Montreal West drop-off, mentioned a sesame kale salad that was “amazing.” When she sent it, we realized it was actually a Brussels sprouts-sesame-kale salad. She says that some days she doesn’t bother with the Brussels sprouts; we assume there are other days where you could leave out the kale, or use some other leafy green instead…and since we offer Brussels sprouts in the fall, you may find this recipe useful then. It took us a while to post it, but better late than never.
Serves 2 to 4
- Toast sesame seeds over medium heat, shaking pan until golden brown (approx. 1-2 minutes). Transfer to a plate and cool.
- Thinly slice enough kale and Brussels sprouts for 2 to 4 people and toss together.
- Toss salad and dressing (Sherri mentions she usually has left over dressing when making for 2, and stores leftover in fridge for next day).
- Garnish with sesame seeds, chopped scallions and crushed red pepper flakes.
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For the dressing – whisk:
- 1 tsp crushed garlic
- 1 ½ Tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
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Tangy Tahini Kale Chips – 01/10/2013
There is a much simpler recipe for kale chips (see below), but after one of our members complained that she found kale chips over-rated, we thought we had to find a jazzed-up version to convince her otherwise. These are delicious. Our only caveat is that oven drying time can vary tremendously, depending on how liberally one coats the kale pieces with the tahini mixture. Ours took more than two hours to reach the desired state of delicate crispiness one would expect. We found ourselves thinking we may use our dehydrator next time we make them instead.
- 2 large bunches of kale
- ½ cup tahini
- ¼ cup tamari or shoyu
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- ½ cup water
- 1-2 cloves garlic
- juice of one lemon
- pinch of sea salt
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast (or parmesan or sesame seeds or…)
- parsley, dry or fresh
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- Wash kale thoroughly and remove the thickest part of the stem. Tear kale into larger than bite size pieces and set aside in a large mixing bowl.
- Combine all other ingredients in a separate bowl; mix or blend until smooth. Combine mixture with the kale as you would mix a salad with its dressing (i.e. adding neither too much nor too little dressing).
- There are a couple of different options for making kale chips. If you do not have a dehydrator, place the chips on a baking sheet in your oven for an hour or two at 200°F. Check them periodically and adjust the time until they are crisp. Arlington Gardens Note: We found it took closer to two hours or more for the chips to reach a state of delicate crispiness.
- If you have a dehydrator, spread them on dehydrator trays and dehydrate at 115 degrees for about 8 hours. Arlington Gardens Note: We suspect that more time might be required when using a dehydrator, too.
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Kale Chips – 01/10/2013
Couldn’t be easier…
- 1,5 litres (6 cups) of kale leaves, stems removed and torn into large pieces
- 30 ml (2 tablespoons) of olive oil
- Salt and pepper
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- Place the baking rack in the center of the oven. Heat the oven to 180 °C (350 °F). Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, mix kale leaves with olive oil. Add salt and pepper to taste. Spread on baking sheet. Cook for approximately 7 minutes on each side, or until the tips of the leaves become golden. Serve immediately.
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Five Kale-Based Juice Recipes – 14/07/2013
These are five kale-based juice recipes we thought some of you might enjoy.
The first recipe is for a kale- (or spinach-) based protein breakfast shake (or smoothie) from Montreal West partner Rosemary Reilly. She notes that it is «gluten-free, soy-free, lactose-free, sugar-free, and vegan. » The four others are from Claire’s sister. She sent them to us after we mentioned how “into” juicing many of our customers seem to be. She personally recommends Hail to the Kale and Crazy Sexy Goddess, adding “with a name like that, who can resist?”, but also says they’re all worth a try. We suspect the kale converts among you already have one (or more) kale shake recipes of your own. Feel free to share them with us. For those of you who don’t, try these on for size and let us know which is your favourite.
Kale Breakfast Shake
In a blender, put:
- 2/3 cup of Coconut Dream (non-dairy coconut beverage) unsweetened, original [You can also use their almond or flax milk]
- 1/2 ripe banana
- 2/3 cup of frozen strawberries and wild blueberries (combined), unsweetened (I use frozen because it makes the drink cold, but you can use fresh. Just add an ice cube or two)
- 1 or 2 leaves of raw kale (remove the fibrous stem; you can also use spinach)
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- Blend until smooth.
- While the blender is still running, add 1 or 2 tablespoons flax seeds (less if you want it to be not thick). Process for about 20 seconds.
- Then, to the running blender, add 1 scoop of Vega 1 plain, unsweetened powder (this is a pea-meal soy-free vegan protein powder available in the health food section of pharmacies and Loblaws.
- When blended, drink up. Makes 1 to 2 servings and is a complete breakfast.
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Hail to the Kale
- ½ pear
- ¼ avocado
- ½ cucumber
- ½ lemon
- Handful cilantro
- 1 c. packed kale
- ½ tsp. ginger
- ½ c. coconut water
- 1 scoop of protein powder(hemp, pumpkin or pea)
- Pure water
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The Super Green
- 1 ¼ c. Kale
- 1 ¼ c. cubed mango
- 2 med. Celery stalks
- 1 c. tangerine or OJ
- ¼ c. parsley
- ¼ c. fresh mint
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Crazy Sexy Goddess
- 1 avocado
- 1 banana
- 1 c. blueberries
- 1 cucumber
- 1 c. Kale/romaine or spinach
- Coconut water (or purified water)
- Cinnamon or cacao
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Morning Glorious
- 1 large cucumber
- Fistful of Kale
- Fistful of romaine
- 2-3 celery stalks
- 1 big broccoli stem
- 1 green apple, quartered
- ½ peeled lemon, quartered
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Caldo Verde (Portuguese Cabbage Soup) – 27/07/2012
This recipe comes from Arlington Gardens partner and good friend, Marie Dagenais. Last year (2011), she raved about this traditional Portuguese soup recipe which had reconciled her with kale, but kept forgetting to send it to us. This year (2012), she sent it to us in early May, before the season got underway…and we promptly forgot about it. We apologize, because it really is a delicious soup. We are convinced it will turn even the most recalcitrant of kale eaters into an avid fan. Enjoy!
Serves 8
- ½ Portuguese cabbage or 8 kale leaves
- 8 medium potatoes, peeled and quartered
- 4 whole garlic cloves, peeled
- 1 chorizo sausage
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper
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- In a large soup pot, cover the potatoes and garlic with water, bring to a boil and simmer until the potatoes are well done.
- Meanwhile, remove the stem from the kale leaves and cut the leaves into thin strips.
- Purée the potatoes, garlic and water in a blender. Add water to yield a light cream soup consistency.
- Add the kale (one leaf per person is the suggested quantity, but you can add more (or fewer) leaves to taste). Heat to cook the kale. Simmer, rather than boil, to preserve the colour of the kale.
- Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve garnished with chorizo slices and a filet of olive oil
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Kale with Sultanas and Nuts – 11/07/2010
We suggest this recipe from the former website of the UK Vegetable Growers…
- 25 g butter
- 200 g kale, shredded
- 4 tbsp dry white wine
- Salt and black pepper
- 75 g sultanas
- 50 g flaked almonds
- 2 tbsp crème fraiche
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- Heat the butter in a wok or large frying pan. Add the kale and stir-fry for 3 minutes.
- Add the wine and season well. Reduce the heat, cover and cook gently for 5 minutes until the kale is tender.
- Stir in the sultanas, almonds and crème fraiche and stir-fry for a further minute.
- Serve with a hearty stew.
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