My husband and I have decided to eat our kale instead of including it in our juice - the first attempt at a quick stir-fry with garlic made our faces hurt and gave me a little bit of a headache. I went online and found an article from the LA Times and what I learned was a revelation - beat your kale to death and you have something far more palatable. Seriously, knead it, bash it and squish it in your hands. Other cooking sites say you should "massage" it - but either way show it no mercy. Kale can take it - and the end result is a darker, silkier leaf that holds up to whatever salad preparation you go with. I made a salad last night with thin slices of granny smith apple and a light vinegar/oil dressing - it was delicious served up with chick peas, tomato slices and brown rice. What's so great about kale is you can dress it early and let it sit while you finish prep on your meal. Oh - and skip the ribs. I cut them off before working my kale over and save them for juice - my face doesn't need that much of a workout.

Laughing at "made our faces hurt". But thanks for the squishing/beating it advice. Kale can be a bit tough at times.

I've gotten into the highly addictive habit of massaging sriracha into my kale before making kale chips. It hurts so good.

Right before I read this post, my husband sent me a text stating that he was craving Caldo Verde and I need to make it ASAP. I'm surprised that didn't make your list!

I do love kale. I'm a weirdo, I know. These recipes look good and I'm definitely going to try some of them. My favorite way to eat kale: beans and greens. Kale, white beans, olive oil, garlic, onions, red wine vinegar and parmesan cheese. :)

There's a great recipe from the Food Network, called Massaged Kale Salad. It gives you the basics, but as others have said, you can break the kale down, add some mango, feta cheese and some pepitas and it's addictive. It's even better after a day or so. What other salad can you say that about? And you don't cool the kale to death.

I've never eaten kale, and have been wanting to try it. I'm kind of a picky eater with quasi-eccentric tastes (e.g. practically no legumes, but I eat any kind of sushi including horse), and have a tiny, low-tech kitchen. I'm scared to try my first kale at home. Any reci[e suggestions for my first attempt?

I love kale. I haven't cooked with it in a while, because I guess it's not in season yet, where I live. I have some good recipes for when it is though!

Kale with peanut sauce and spicy roasted black beans.

Broccoli and kale pate (beloved by kale-doubters, as well as kale lovers.)

And probably the most popular recipe I've ever posted, kale, sweet potatoes and chickpeas with smoked paprika, cumin and lime. Simple, but delicious.

I really love Kale and I find it much more appealing than other lettuces, I am always trying to get people to try it, I have found that a lot of people find it too crunchy which is why I like it but it does wilt down nicely when cooked, or even if you just steam the leaf or set over your food with a lid for a few minutes.

I'm surprised you didn't include Colcannon, an Irish dish that's particularly eaten around Halloween (at least it is in my house). It's basically creamed (with milk/cream and butter) potato with finely chopped kale stirred through it. It's delicious.

We had a crazy, essentially non-existent winter last year. And this year’s bugs are overwhelming!! Obviously I should have known to use row covers after the mild winter. But I didn’t and now my garden is besieged!! Is anyone else fighting Whiteflies to no end? Spraying with soap/oil, picking, even vacuuming! Enough to drive me to pesticides!

I started using Kale about a year ago. This Kale/Carrots recipe is the best use of kale I have found: http://askgeorgie.com/?p=3949

I'll have to try a few of these.

My all time favorite way to eat kale! http://7th-taste.com/2012/02/14/kenyan-kale-saute-sukuma-wiki-with-mushroom-olive-oil/

Timely indeed.. I just bought home a bunch of kale yesterday! Been quite a while since I've treaded the cooking- kale- waters and I KNOW this stuff is SUPER FOOD that my family and I should be eating! Thanks AT!

I love kale and had some tonight. First I fried a nice steak in my cast iron dutch oven. I took the meat out and while it was resting I stuffed the dutch oven full of kale, drizzled on some olive oil and put in some garlic, put the lid on and let it cook for about 10 minutes. I think I stirred it once. There is enough moisture in the leaves that with the lid on, there is no danger of the kale burning. It cooks down nicely and uses all the juice from the steak and is delicious.

oh! the ricotta/parmesan kale pie is so, so good. i will now have canned artichokes in the pantry.

Love all things kale. And, believe it or not, it's my boyfriend's favorite food!

@claireooto
I didn't intend to comment on this post (I'm learning to like kale). And then I looked at your blog and looked some more & some more. Great blog. And then I looked at your husband's blog. Beautiful woodworking!! Now I better make supper...

I made the turkey chili with kale this week, and it is amazing. My husband was so excited about it, too. This will definitely be in regular rotation for us. I only made a couple small changes. I used extra corn and added some frozen okra. Also, instead of the 30 oz. of diced tomatoes, I used 20oz spicy rotel, 10oz mild rotel. We like things extra spicy.