Eat more kale! 22 recipes using kale

Kale, that unruly, leafy vegetable, has been enjoying an increased popularity among home cooks and chefs alike. People who belong to community supported agriculture (CSA) often receive bags of kale during its harvest season in early spring or fall. Even though you can find fresh kale in July and August, kale tastes sweeter after the first frost. It can be used in salads, side dishes, as a garnish, and even in smoothies. Here is a list of kale recipes from our Stir It Up! bloggers.

Garden of Eating
Toss kale with dried fruit, toasted nuts, and top with shredded Parmesan cheese for a unique summer salad.

1. Kale pita wraps

The Rowdy Chowgirl
Fill warm pita wraps with kale or other greens, tofu, mushrooms, and onions for a satisfying vegetarian meal.

By Christina Masters, The Rowdy Chowgirl

Warm pita wraps filled with sautéed greens, tofu, mushrooms, and onions make for a satisfying meal with umami flavors.

Makes 5-6 servings 

1 12-ounce container of firm tofu

1 bunch kale, remove spines and tear into pieces

1/2 cup water

1 teaspoon olive oil

8-9 sliced mushrooms

1/2 cup diced onion

1 glove garlic, crushed

Pita slices

Hummus, to taste

Drain tofu and cut into sticks (about 1/4-inch wide).

1. Lightly coat a sheet pan with oil. 

2. Place tofu sticks in a single layer on pan and put under broiler for about 5 minutes, or until golden brown.  Turn tofu with a spatula and return to broiler for a few more minutes – just until lightly browned.

3. Wash kale, remove rigid spines, and tear into pieces. In a large sauté pan or wok, place kale and about 1/2 cup water over medium-high heat and cover.  Steam for about 5 minutes, or until limp. Take off lid and let any remaining water evaporate. Remove kale and heat 1 teaspoon olive oil in wok. Sauté several (8 or 9, or whatever you’ve got) sliced mushrooms along with about 1/4 cup diced onion. Return kale to wok. Add 1 clove of crushed garlic. Add tofu sticks.  Stir gently until combined. Salt to taste.

4. Serve a heap of the kale mixture on a warmed pita that has been smeared with hummus.

1 of 22

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.