Are You Keen On Kale?

It comes in these giant, frilly, green bundles at the grocery store and you look at it and think, "what the heck do I do with that?"

I didn't know either.  Then I grew it one year and fell in love with it.  

Sadly, kale is number ten on the Dirty Dozen for pesticides list so look for a local organic farmer who is selling it to buy it now.  Kale probably made the list because, in early summer, kale gets attacked by flea beetles like crazy, and looks like lace part of the year.  But then in the late summer and early fall, when most pests have died off due to the cold weather, suddenly kale comes into it's glory.  It grows green, tall, beautiful (and nutrient dense) leaves and it laughs at the cold weather!  I've gone out into the garden in the middle of winter and picked kale out of the snow!  

Now its time to cook the kale. You can find a million recipes online, but for me the most simple recipes are the best. and my two favorite ways to serve it are, first, to saute kale in olive oil with some garlic, a drop of lemon juice, and a little red pepper and the second way is to chop it up and throw a big handful into just about any soup you're making.  Easy!

I'm not to whom I should credit this chart.
It comes via Food Inc. with a juice generation logo.  

Give kale a try!