I don’t know about you, but I just love kale. What? You’ve never eaten it before!? Well, I’m not surprised.

For the past five years I’ve been teaching vegan cooking classes called ‘Food for Life‘ as an Instructor for The Cancer Project. When  preparing a dish called ‘Braised Kale’ I always ask if anyone in the class has ever eaten kale. The response varies depending on where people grew up. If I have people in class who grew up in the South, they will say that greens were common on their dinner plate, but not necessarily prepared in the most healthful fashion.

Most people think of kale as that green curly stuff that they see under the food at an all you can eat buffet. (Need I say YUK!!)

Duke loves to munch on kale.

This is Duke. He is my kale lovin’ cat! He is absolutely crazy about kale. When I get the kale out of the fridge and start to clean it for a meal, he insists that I share some with him. We have three other cats who could care less, but not Duke. He will not leave me alone until I share with him.

My favorite way to prepare kale is to braise it in a bit of reduced sodium soy sauce, a little balsamic vinegar and lots of chopped fresh garlic.

• Put the garlic, soy sauce, and balsamic vinegar into a pan and turn the heat on to medium.
• Once the broth starts to froth let it cook for about 30 seconds.
• Toss in the kale that has been washed and removed from the woody stems by pulling the leaves off in bite sized pieces. The water that clings to the leaves after rinsing it adds just a bit more moisture that the dish needs for cooking.
• At this point you should cover it and let the leaves wilt a little.
• Then turn it down the temperature and cook on medium-low to low for about 10-12 minutes stirring it occasionally.

Oh my goodness! You’ve never tasted anything so delicious.

The vinegar somehow takes the bitterness away and brings out the sweetness in the greens.

If there is any cooked kale left over store it in the fridge. The next day eat it cold, put it in a wrap, or heat it up again. Be sure to make enough so you do have leftovers. It is absolutely fantastic the next day.

Kale is a type of cabbage and a member of the Brassica family. It is a cruciferous vegetable along with other vegetables that may be more familiar to you such as cabbage,  broccoli, cauliflower, bok choy and collard greens.

You can actually braise any green, not just kale. We often braise broccoli florets using this method.

Greens offer a good source of calcium and beta-carotene and also provides an anti-cancer effect by helping to modify the hormones in our bodies that promote hormone-dependent cancers.

If you haven’t eaten kale before, I hope you will give it a try. You can put kale in just about anything. It can be added to soups or stews, put into a fruit smoothie, or chopped into small pieces and added to your salad.

In addition to the braised kale that I shared above, go to 365 Days of Kale and try a simple healthy and delicious recipe for Garlic Kale Sweet Potato Soup which is loaded with cancer fighting nutrients.

It may take you a few times of eating kale to let your palate adapt to the taste and chewy texture, but I assure you once it does you’ll be just like Duke and me. You’ll be lovin’ it, too!

Enjoy and leave me a comment about your kale adventures.