What to do with Kale

You probably thought Kale was just a garnish chefs use, but no!  You should eat it.  Kale is a wonderful source of antioxidants such as vitamins A and C, health-promoting phytonutrients, and calcium (yay!).  Kale is more dense than other lettuce, but it is wonderful raw in salad (remove the stalk and stems, chop). I like to mix it with Romaine leaves.  You can also sauté or steam and use in pastas, soups and stews.  Amazingly, you can bake it, and it turns into delicate little "chips" that melt in your mouth, similar to the way cotton-candy does. 

Basic Crispy Kale Chip recipe:

Rip apart 4 or 5 stalks of Kale into bit-size pieces, discard center stalk
Rinse and pat dry, or use a salad spinner to get moisture off
Put Kale into a bowl and drizzle in about 1 Tablespoon of olive oil and
Pinch of sea salt, massage olive oil and salt into Kale
Spread out on baking sheet so pieces are not touching or overlapped
Bake at 350° for 18 minutes
**Now, here's where you can get your grove on. Other spices can be sprinkled on before baking such as, garlic powder chili powder, paprika, cayenne, pepper etc. Experiment!  I used a little garlic powder and nutmeg.  So good!  Makes about 1-2 servings.