By Ilaria Catizone
Kale is one of the best-selling veggies at the Co-op! But if you’re looking for a new way to enjoy it, we have some great recipes for you! Kale is in season from now until summer.
Here are three delicious ways to include kale in your meals:
Sneaky kale smoothie
This is one of those great “anything-goes” recipes.
The secrets?
Add something sweet to the mix, and don’t go overboard with the kale.
Something tangy goes great in this recipe, so try some lemon juice, a piece of lemon rind or a piece of ginger.
Something cold also helps a lot. You can obviously add ice but frozen fruit is best, in my opinion.
So if you have some bananas and pears that are ready to eat or just past their best, you can peel and freeze them, and they’ll be ready to throw into smoothies later!
So, our basic recipe:
Tips: if you want extra nutrition you could also add a tablespoon of chia seeds or peanut butter. If you are taking this to work (one day we’ll get out again!) – take the ingredients with you in a jar and blend at work. These smoothies do not keep well once blended.
Creamy nutty kale
Prep:
Roughly chop a bunch of kale.
Crush a garlic clove or chop up half an onion if you are feeling like it…
Grab out your Co-op-made peanut butter and your olive oil.
Cooking:
Add the kale (and garlic or onion, if using) to a hot pan with a dash of olive oil and sautee until wilted.
Once the kale has wilted, add a couple of generous tablespoons of peanut butter and stir over low heat until the leaves are evenly coated. Serve hot.
Tip: Use crunchy peanut butter for extra texture… that’s my favourite part!
Kale chips
Pre-heat your oven to 200C.
Prep:
Roughly chop a bunch of kale and spread on an oven-proof dish.
Evenly coat with a generous dash of olive oil and sprinkle with some sea salt. That’s it!
The prep is super easy, but the tricky part is the cooking… you need to watch these chips like a hawk as they’ll go from ‘perfectly crispy’ to ‘heart-breakingly burnt’ in a very short period of time.
Cooking:
So pop your kale in the oven and check it every 3-4 minutes. They should be done pretty quickly but cooking time will depend on your oven and on how many chips you are making.
Trust me – the extra effort of watching them cook is totally worth it. These taste delicious, and I find they meet the consensus of most kids, even my extra fussy 4 year old!