Kale and Chocolate

We have kale the size of elephant ears, of a hundred elephants! The more kale we pick, the more grows back in its place. We have kale growing out of our ears now.


A friend recently gave me a wonderful recipe book titled The Book of Kale by Sharon Hanna and it has eighty recipes using kale.  Before the book, I was excited about the Massage Kale Salad with Mango and Avocado recipe I found online...but after making it every other day in the summer, it was losing its appeal, even if we did jazz it up with pineapples and strawberries too. Before that recipe, we were only eating it sauteed in a little olive oil and salt. Now, at last, we have some more variety and yeah...still more kale!


Kale is a superfood.  It scores 1,000 out of 1,000 in the Aggregate Nutrient Density Index scoring system..  It is rich in Vitamins A, C, and K. It is also a source of calcium, iron, and potassium, and provides significant amounts of phytonutrients as well. It is a nutritional powerhouse. There are several varieties of kale to grow. We like the Red Russian and the Red Winter kale best. Its broad, thin leaf is milder in taste than the Dwarf Blue Curled that's readily found in the supermarket.

 It has been great fun to learn various ways to enjoy this superfood. Meg and I had a weekend of cooking with kale last week. We started off with the Simple Kale Frittata for breakfast, and had Savory Kale Scones with Pumpkin and Cheese with our Winter Squash Soup for lunch, and then we tried the Kale and Cranberry Crisps with a delicious Ginger and Curry Chutney from the Concord Wine and Cheese Shop for a late afternoon snack the next day, and a Kale and White Bean Salad with dinner. Everybody has enjoyed all of these kale delights, except for Owen who liked the Massaged Kale Salad until I overdid it, and then he grew tired of it and anything else heralding kale. Who can blame a thirteen year old for that?


Tonight, we had Kale and Chourico Soup, but a craving for chocolate prompted a rummage through the cupboards. Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa was the most chocolatey thing I could find and luckily we had the ingredients to make its signature chocolate cake with chocolate frosting recipe. It reminded me of something my mother would have made growing up because I can still see the cocoa powder tin in her cupboard. It's exactly in the same place I have mine. Its one of those items I think I have permanently embedded there, along with molasses, baking powder, and cinnamon. Its not something I ever think of buying, but always think will be there when I need it...kind of like the kale:)

As Michael and I indulge in our old-fashioned chocolate cake and a glass of milk, we know we will wake up to a super healthy Kale and Avocado smoothie. Try it, you'll like it!

Plant some kale seeds....its not too late!

xo Bess