Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl's Top 5 Dinosaur Kale Recipes
Off the Menu with Dara can be heard every Saturday from 11 a.m. to noon on News Radio 830 WCCO! See all of Mpls. St.Paul Magazine's Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl's Top 5 lists here!
I heard from another fine radio personality the other day that kale is over—but he was wrong, and it's totally not. Especially not Dinosaur Kale, also known as Tuscan Kale, or Black Kale—it's bumpy, it's cruciferous, and it's everywhere at the farmers' markets right now. I will agree that it's terrible raw, but so are potatoes, and we don't hold that against them! Here's why I like it: It's both irony and mineral, and also silky and chewy. These are rare qualities to find together! You should like it too—especially if you cook it like this:
April Bloomfield's Kale Polenta
Recipe
This is a recipe for kale-skeptics, you make a kale puree, so you've totally left the crunch behind, and then you're mixing it into creamy, buttery polenta. That's comfort food! And it will show you how to love the flavor of kale, without dealing with the texture—if that's something you want to see.
Tyler Florence's Creamed Kale
Recipe
Baby steps! The next way to eat kale without dealing with the crunch is to make it like creamed spinach—try this out. You might want to have it for Thanksgiving, it's that good.
Kale in the style of collards
Recipe
I'm a big fan of Southern-style collards, long-simmered greens with ham or smoked turkey. But ask yourself: Why not try this classic recipe with kale? If you do, you end up with something a little darker tasting, like a dark roast coffee versus a light roast, and it's most excellent.
Kale Chips
Recipe
Oven roasted, crispy kale chips were all the rage maybe five years ago, but they deserve to come back, because all you're doing is roasting them coated with olive oil in a high heat oven, and they're so snacky and good, even kids love them. Crisp!!
Portuguese kale and potato soup
Recipe
I was in Portugal when I was pregnant with my son, and everywhere I went everybody was telling me: You must eat kale soup, it's very good for pregnant women. You must eat kale soup, it's very healthy for pregnant women. And you know what? It is very healthy—for everyone, and really one of the world's greatest soups. I love it.
