How do YOU eat your Kale? For that matter, do you eat Kale?

How do YOU eat your Kale? 

For that matter, do you eat Kale? 

Why not?

I understand if you don't. Really, I grew up in a household where we were the poster children and spokespeople for the burgeoning processed food industry. Fresh? Not in our house. We ate beef at every meal. Well, maybe not, but it was either beef or pork and sometimes chicken. Usually in a bucket. Vegetables at our place were peas, green beans or corn from a can. And potatoes from the freezer or one of the myriad of cheesy flavored boxed potato products. Plus lots and lots of high sugar desserts and just plain crap. On occasion my mother would buy fruit, apples or a banana or two. And in the summer strawberries from the older Japanese family that had the strawberry fields at 59th and Thomas. That was my diet. I looked like a pear. Still do somewhat. However, been working on that aspect of my life. And eating healthy stuff is a part of it all. Kale, which is unarguably the most nutrient dense food product out there has made it to my kitchen now as well. How could I NOT start eating Kale, it's one of those readily available superfoods and it isn't one of those stupid berries from the Himalayas that cost 30 bucks an ounce. But only because Doc Oz or some other TV huckster tells people to buy them and eat them for miracles to happen. Kale though really is something special, a true superfood. (Authority Nutrition on Kale) 

The problem though becomes quite serious once you have them in your house. They are kinda weird. I mean, really, what the hell do you do with the stuff. Tuscan Kale as it turns out is also referred to as "Dinosaur" kale. All of the varieties look a lot like, well, plants that for lack of a better description, weeds that dinosaurs ate. Big thick stems, stiff leafy areas that are more succulent feeling than like any sort of lettuce or anything like that. Weeds. Big ol' gross thick weeds. Superfoods indeed!

So, that never deterred me from trying anything new. First time out, I chopped the stems, cooked a few minutes in EVOO and then added the roughly chopped leaves, a half bottle of beer and a packet of my Mesquite Smoked Onion Dip Mix. I cooked that covered for ten minutes. The leaves and stems were tough as leather. I cooked them for another twenty minutes and they were sort of soft. Now, I understand that Southern cooking takes greens like these and cooks them for hours. Those are the kind I tasted once and spit back out right away. My smoky Kale with beer, was actually quite tasty. Still a bit firm, toothsome in fact. And nice. So that's how I usually make them. With a few variations. Yesterday I cooked some with red wine and Cajun seasoning. This morning, I took some of the leftovers and chopped into smaller pieces and threw them onto the cast iron after cooking a couple eggs. Let the Kale kind of sizzle for a bit then heated up some leftover fried brown rice I had made Monday. 

That was some pretty decent chow for breakfast. Now as anyone that knows me or has read stuff here on my blog knows, I don't eat much meat. Very little. Rarely would be an apt term. I do eat fish and eggs though. I am older, I know the dangers of someone my age that doesn't work out daily burning 4 thousand calories in the process would have, and that's the limiting enzyme that helps the human body to convert ALA fats into the DHA that the body can utilize. So for me, until I get my activity level up to that 3 or 4 thousand calorie a day mark, am in need of some natural sources of actual DHA Omega 3 fats. (I'm a long way off from 4K calories, but working on it) Eggs, especially these, being pastured organic ones, and wild caught salmon. Right now there are a couple slabs of salmon out on the smoker. I love love love smoked salmon. Tomorrow, Kale and salmon. Oops, sorry Cajun Kale. And actually I have a variety I've never had before but Guy on Sunday at the farmers market told me it was his favorite and was softer and better to eat raw. So tomorrow, Kale salad with Fennel, White Carrots, Seaweed and Smoked Salmon.

That's how I eat my kale. I find the more I eat the stuff, the more I like it and want more.  And the crazy thing is, maybe it's helping. I walked a mile and a half today in 41 minutes and it only took about 10 minutes for me to catch my breath afterwards. Sumpin's goin on in this rickety old fat body. And it is pretty cool, it ain't so fat any more.

 KALE, IT'S WHAT'S FOR DINNER!!!!
check out more good stuff about kale at https://authoritynutrition.com/10-proven-benefits-of-kale/

Yep