15 Sep Hail the Kale: A Food Hack from Blend Catering Reno

Hail the Kale: A Food Hack from Blend Catering Reno

Whether it’s your garden, one of your friend’s gardens or all of your other friends’ gardens, if you live in our neck of the high desert right about now, you probably have some garden-fresh kale in your kitchen. What’s good is, it tastes great, it’s great FOR you, and it’s super “in” right now, which means you can improve your meal quality, diet and hipness all in one meal.

But it doesn’t always make a great first impression. Sometimes Kale comes across as bitter, thick, and sort of intimidating. Fear not. Here are some easy tips on how to make a nice, tasty, healthy friend out of all those leafy greens!

Give Your Kale A Bath
Wash your kale, tear out the center ribs and chop the leaves into bite-sized pieces. Put the pieces in a bowl and pour a really good vinaigrette over the leaves. Don’t drown them! A light coating is plenty. Cover up the bowl, stick it in the fridge and let it marinate for a few hours or, even better, overnight. This easy prep step helps bring out some amazing flavors and creates a perfectly salad-friendly texture.

Give Your Kale A Massage
If you don’t have time for marinating, go ahead and give your leaves a massage. Basically, just remove the ribs, grab a couple handfuls, squeeze them and rub them together for a few minutes. The rubbing action breaks down kale’s cell structure, turning the leaves darker green and reducing some volume. But best of all, a quick massage helps mellow out Kale’s bitterness and brings out a sweet greeny flavor.

Give Your Kale some Oven Lovin’
Got leftovers? As long as the dressing was coated lightly enough, toss your bite-sized chunks on a baking sheet, stick them in a 350℉ oven for 15 minutes and turn those bad boys into kale chips. In fact, you might like them so much that you ditch the salad part entirely and skip right to the chips. Experiment with seasonings. Olive oil, rosemary, OJ … all of them can add some wonderful zest to this tasty snack.