Each market season, I pull out the stops in praise of kale as the super vegetable, the one that overshadows all others in the “it’s good for you” category. When you ask why it’s such nutritional wonder, the answer stretches on and on, blending into a polysyllabic haze.
Here’s a shortened version: Kale comes loaded with antioxidants, which may prevent disease by reducing cell damage. It’s filled with phytochemicals that may help fight macular degeneration and cancer. It has calcium, even more calcium than spinach, as well as high levels of vitamins A, C and K, fiber and protein. It is the most healthful of all vegetables.
With all those nutritional riches, kale should make a regular appearance on our plates. But it doesn’t make its way to my plate very often. I simply haven’t liked the way it tastes.
I have a legitimate justification. Kale isn’t supposed to taste good. Like most life forms, kale possesses self-protection mechanisms, in this case, a bitter taste that protects the plant against being eaten by predators such as humans. Ironically, the very phytochemicals and antioxidants that are so healthful for us are the source of that bitterness. For those of us who wince when tasting something bitter, and most of us have palates that dislike bitterness, kale is an acquired taste.
I’ve been working on acquiring the taste for these four market seasons now. Progress has been frustratingly slow. Each summer, I try every variety of kale at the market, from the flat-leafed Red Russian kale to the fibrous curly leafed kale to the favored Lacinato kale. I’ve experimented with a number of variations of the two most common ways to use kale, kale sautéed with raisins and Tuscan bean and kale soup. I’ve roasted kale chips, chopped kale for quinoa salad, and tossed pieces of kale into green salads.
Nevertheless, I have still felt as if all the bitter tastes of the world gathered together to assault my palate with each bite of kale—that is until I saw some lovely looking Lacinato kale at Cha’s stand a couple weeks ago and decided that such a glossy green bunch of kale deserved one more kale encounter. I tried this Creamy Kale Salad recipe from Whole Living magazine, a recipe combining shaved kale, cooked beets, sliced apple and walnuts tossed with an avocado dressing.
It was a “Eureka” moment. At long last, I found a kale dish that tastes good to me, probably because the beets and apples provide enough sweetness to camouflage the stinging bitter undertone of the kale. This will be a repeat recipe. I have already discovered that rubbing 1/4 tsp. salt into the shaved kale adds tenderness while tempering the pungent flavor.
I can’t claim that this recipe will transform all kale avoiders into kale gourmands, but this shows there is indeed hope for all those who want to like kale. To your good health–
