Friday, December 7, 2012


Kale again

When my stepdaughter, Aimée, recently shared a kale salad recipe with me, I immediately wanted to eat raw kale. Somehow, this fall, I’ve been feeling like the  “Into the Woods” Witch rapping in the prologue: “Greens, greens and nothing but greens”.

As it turned out, I had an opportunity to make a variation on this salad the very next night. It was simple, a citrus dressing tossed in a bowl of torn up baby kale.

Here is what I did:  SO EASY!!

Dressing:
3 clementines: halved and then juiced
approximately an equal amount to juice of good extra virgin olive oil
½ clove garlic, finely chopped
2 T rice wine vinegar (a  little fresh lemon juice would do)
 some salt, some pepper

As much baby kale cleaned, washed and with big stems removed as you need for you and your dinner companions.  I use my mother-in-law’s way of measuring: 2 or so handfuls per person ( but we are big salad eaters .She planned one handful per person as a side salad quantity.)

Now here is what is important: Toss kale in dressing at least fifteen minutes before eating.  This allows kale to absorb the dressing and to soften a bit. Even though it is young, the baby kale can be sort of chewy.
(If your kale is not really young or picked from your garden, it will be ok. Just let the kale sit longer in the dressing, And be sure to discard of tough stems and ribs.)

 Add some salt and pepper before serving.