All hail almighty Kale

I love kale. For the longest time I thought chard was kale and I do not like chard.

Personally I think that this is true for a bunch of people. Between that and the fact that most people think of kale as the limp bit of greenery under the dried up slice of orange that is the garnish on a million diner breakfasts, I can see why so many of my friends are like "eh, meh, kale".

But let me tell you, kale is DELICIOUS. I am convinced it is what Grimm intended for Rapunzel to crave like mad, only the word "rapunzel" was more exotic than the word "kale".

Here is the excerpt from the Grimm story of Rapunzel:

Through the small rear window of these people's house they could see into a splendid garden that was filled with the most beautiful flowers and herbs. The garden was surrounded by a high wall, and no one dared enter, because it belonged to a sorceress who possessed great power and was feared by everyone.
One day the woman was standing at this window, and she saw a bed planted with the most beautiful rapunzel. It looked so fresh and green that she longed for some. It was her greatest desire to eat some of the rapunzel. This desire increased with every day, and not knowing how to get any, she became miserably ill.
Her husband was frightened, and asked her, "What ails you, dear wife?"
"Oh," she answered, "if I do not get some rapunzel from the garden behind our house, I shall die."
The man, who loved her dearly, thought, "Before you let your wife die, you must get her some of the rapunzel, whatever the cost."
So just as it was getting dark he climbed over the high wall into the sorceress's garden, hastily dug up a handful of rapunzel, and took it to his wife. She immediately made a salad from it, which she devoured eagerly. It tasted so very good to her that by the next day her desire for more had grown threefold. 

See, most little girls would be like "ooh let's find a nice man who will go to any lengths to make us happy" whereas I was like "ooh, I want some rapunzel".

I have found my rapunzel and it is kale: fat, juicy, green leaves that can be eaten raw or cooked.

Last night I sauteed it with onion and garlic and then cooked some ground turkey with a can of chickpeas and mixed it all together.

With a splash of vinegar and little salt and pepper, it was so very good.


I had some at lunch, and now I cannot wait for dinner!

Comments

Mary said…
There is an amazing Kale and Brussels Sprouts Salad recipe on Epicurious. You would love it. It makes a ton, but it's so fantastic!
Annabelle B. said…
I can eat a ton of kale. It's my current leafy green default.

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