krazy for kale

Have you ever heard of Lacinato kale? Until I picked up the CLEAN book by Alejandro Junger I had not. It’s also known as ‘Dinosaur Kale’ or ‘Black Kale’ and it is, in my humble opinion, the tastiest green I’ve ever eaten. I have half a mind to rip out our fledgling swiss chard and put in a crop of kale instead. We’ll see, of course, as the plants are close to being ready to pick.

I think this green is called ‘Dinosaur’ kale because it truly looks like something dinosaurs would have eaten; I can just picture a Triceratops munching on these leaves and being as happy as we were.

Did I mention on the CLEAN detox you eat one solid meal per day (lunch)? Yesterday, we sauteed a bunch of Lacinato kale in olive oil, then topped it with freshly ground black pepper and Maldon sea salt (as a side to our Adzuki beans/brown rice main dish). The “Yum!” factor was so high, Tate traded the remains of his salad (spinach/radicchio with balsamic and olive oil) for a few more leaves off my plate and Paul’s. Really!

Needless to say, I ran to Whole Foods later that day since we had only bought one bunch at the Campbell Farmer’s Market (you never know how much you’ll like something and this had been our test batch).

I am very curious to try making ‘kale chips’ out of them when the cleanse is over (right now, vegetables should be raw or barely cooked). I found great instructions online if you want to check them out: http://fairfieldgreenfoodguide.com/2009/10/15/tuscan-kale-chips/ – bon apetit!