Kale Love, Three Ways

There's one thing I'm not sure I've conveyed my passion for enough here on Spiced Plate.  I have a little crush on kale.  Okay, a huge crush.  I love kale.  Curly is my favorite, but colorful purple comes in at a close second.  I can include kale in all three of my meals and still wake up in the morning craving its fresh and slightly sweet taste.  Last summer I practically lived off kale, soaking in all its lovely vitamin A, K, and C.  This vegetable has such a special place in my heart, that I decided to dedicate a post to a day in the life of me as a kale eater, which, believe it or not, includes kale cookies.  And yes, they taste good.

I became inspired for this post first thing in the morning, when I was making a kale-tastic breakfast.  Starting the day off with this detoxifying, antioxidant-rich source of omega-3 fatty acids (source) seems to make the morning feels healthy.  I feel accomplished when I've already eaten something so healthy and good for me, and it gives me the energy to go into my day without being bothered by hunger until lunch time.

As I mentioned in this post, vegetables for breakfast was not something I even considered until a year ago.  People give me funny looks when I tell them I had some rockin' greens before noon.  But I can't deny that I feel better eating greens in the morning than eating a bowl of oatmeal or cereal.  Even though the oatmeal should be more filling, it makes me unbearably hungry by 10:00.  Strange, but that's just how my body works. 

It may also surprise you to see an egg here in my recipe.  I've been trying out eating eggs as a source of local protein in addition to locally made yogurt, cheese, and goat's milk.  I slowly added them into my diet, and ate them in baked goods on occasion throughout the year, so when I had my first whole egg my belly accepted the protein fairly well.  One thing that I'm having sort of a hard time figuring out is that ayurveda denotes the egg as being rajastic, or a food that over-stimulates and excites and can agitate the mind.  I feel like I need a bit of stimulation and energy in my vigor right now, so I'm just going to play it by ear and listen to my body and see how things go.

Simple Kale Breakfast

• 1 teaspoon ghee
• 1 vidalia onion, diced
• 5 leaves of kale, pulled off their stem and chopped into small bite-sized pieces
• 1 handful of almonds, chopped
• 1 egg, cooked sunny-side up
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon cardamom
• 1/2 teaspoon coriander

In a medium-sized shallow pan, melt the ghee on medium heat.  Add in the onion and stir frequently, until the onions are soft, for about five minutes.  Add in the kale and chopped onions, and cook until the kale leaves have just become soft, about three minutes.  Turn off the heat and add the spices and egg.  Serve with a cup of tea in the morning for an invigorating breakfast.  Serves 1.  

The second way I've prepared kale is as a snack and meal-topper:  chips!  This past summer I first saw kale chips packaged in a local health food store and thought it was a genius idea, but not one worth 7.99 a bag.  So I (and a lot of other bloggers!) decided to make them myself, with great and less expensive results.  It's pretty amazing how light and crunchy these become.  You can experiment with adding no fat or using olive oil instead of the ghee.  Mixing up the spices and seasonings each time yields a new taste experience.  They're so delicate and lovely to eat, and a lot healthier than potato chips!

Spicy Kale Chips

• 1 bunch of kale, pulled off the stem and cut into strips no wider than palm-sized
• 1 tablespoon melted ghee
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon ginger
• a couple grinds of freshly ground pepper
• 3 tablespoons grated cheese of your choice (I used goat's cheddar)

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.  In a large saucepan, melt the ghee while stirring in the salt, ginger, and pepper.   Toss your kale inside the saucepan, letting it get coated in the ghee spice mixture.  Spread the kale out on a sheet pan, sprinkling with cheese.  Bake for 15 minutes, or until the kale leaves are crispy.  Makes for a lovely topping on stir-fries or eat as an afternoon snack.

When I told Andrew about my plans for a kale-themed blog post, he asked "Are you going to make kale cookies?"  That was a challenge I was gladly willing to accept.  I wasn't sure that their level of cookie-ness would be satisfactory, but I'm always up for a cookie experiment.  I decided to let it be obvious that there was kale in the recipe -- no sneaky healthy food here, it's all out in the open.  Yes, you're eating a cookie.  Yes, you're eating kale, too.  Cooking the kale in ghee really brought out the sweetness in the green, and mixed well with the dried fruit and nuts.  The only thing sweetening up this goodie is the applesauce.  While these are no chocolate chip cookie (although I toyed with the idea of adding chocolate), they were eaten up in a 24-hour period, which to me is the sign of a delicious treat.

Kale Surprise Cookies (the surprise is that they taste good!)

• 1 cup brown rice flour
• 1 1/2 cups kale, cooked in 1 tablespoon ghee
• 1/4 cup combined raisins, dried cranberries, and pumpkin seeds
• 1/4 cup chopped almonds
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon ground ginger
• 2 tablespoons ground flax seed combined with 3 tablespoons water
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened plain yogurt (goat, cow, soy, almond, etc.)
• 1/3 cup unsweetened apple sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees and grease a medium sized baking sheet with canola oil or butter (I used ghee, and my cookies didn't stick at all!).  In a mixing bowl, combine your the flour, dried fruit and seeds, nuts, baking powder, salt, ginger and kale.  Stir well, making sure to thoroughly combine everything.  In a separate bowl, combine the flax seed mixture with the applesauce, yogurt, and vanilla extract.  Mix with the dry ingredients, stirring well.  Depending on the consistency of your yogurt and applesauce, you may feel that the batter is to wet or too dry.  Add a bit more flour or applesauce accordingly.  I made my cookie balls the size of half a tablespoon, and rounded them a bit with my fingers as I dropped them along on the cookie sheet.  Bake for 20 minutes, or until cookies begin to turn golden around the edges.  Yields about 16 cookies.

What's your favorite way to eat kale?  Would you eat a kale cookie?  I look forward to hearing your kale-tastic experiences!