What About Kale

REGULAR KALE VARIETY

I was first introduced to Kale by my friend, Christine Lynch of Live and Eat Better Holistic Health. This is her business, she is a holistic health counselor. She has tried to convince me over the years that kale is one of the best greens you can get and that I should ingest it daily. Well over the past year and a half I have made every effort to do just this and keep wasting at least 75% of what I purchase. I have tried it in stir fry, steam and sprinkle a bit of salt, put it in soups, hide it in a salad, you name it and I just can't stand it.

So until recently, I thought that I have finally written off kale. Deciding that it's just not for me. But then my mom discovered Lacinato Kale in the organic area at our grocery store of choice (Sherm's Food 4 Less) so I gave it a shot. It is quite a different thing than the average regular variety I had been buying.

LACINATO KALE

Lacinato is also commonly referred to as Dinosaur Kale. It has a very thick, almost leathery feeling yet when cooked (like in the soup I just posted: Garbanzo Rice-Noodle Soup) it has such a nice bite and taste. Be careful not to overcook any type of green like this or you will never like it. Consider cooking it sort of like "al dente". It's almost what I would call, "meaty". The common variety, from what I can tell is only referred to as "Kale", just has no flavor and I disdain it's thin, rough frilly texture.

Try either or, but I felt I should post this because my experience with Kale made me think I would never like it when there are actually different varieties. With it being such a healthy green to have in my diet I wanted to like it.

Our store carries the generic Kale in the regular produce area and then 2-3 different varieties in the organic area. Price is pretty comparable too and in smaller bunches sometimes which is nice if you are the only one in the house that's going to eat it.

Let me know if you try it or both and tell me what you think of the difference.

Wikipedia Nutrition Facts