A quick kale tale

This month has been all green for me, especially since I stumbled across Trader Joe’s big bag of kale, sold pre-washed, pre-cut, and for roughly $3 bucks. It has a recommended 3 servings per bag, but if you’re on a budget, you can easily stretch that to 6. Luckily, I have just landed a waitressing job, so hopefully my days of rationing the kale and cheerios are over. In any case, my own personal interest in kale prompted me to look outward, where I noticed, quite quickly, that kale is suddenly cool. Like green tea, açaí, and quinoa, kale is being given the star treatment – it appears on restaurant menus as the bedding for proteins, the topping for risottos, and even casually tossed with noodles of all varieties (it does happens to be a main ingredient in my favorite pasta dish at my favorite Brookline restaurant, The Abbey), and has gotten tons of press, though some of it controversial with the recent Eat More Chikin vs. Eat More Kale cease and desist order (also known as Chik-fil-A sues that dude in Vermont who makes the t-shirts). I’m going to try to refrain from taking sides, but really, since the cows are so spirited for us to consume more fowl, don’t you think it seems like they would eagerly promote the consumption of leafy greens too, especially being herbivores themselves?

The important thing to remember is that kale is cool, and with an incredible number of health benefits, its popularity is apparently well earned. Kale is stuffed with beta-carotene which gets a lot of buzz for being a major player in the battle against cancers and heart disease, as well as other important carotenoids including lutein and zeaxathin (both linked to eye health). For a leafy green, kale is also remarkably high in fiber, giving it the unique ability to fill you up faster, and is full of vitamins A, C, B6, K, and a great source of folic acid, phosphorus, potassium, manganese, and calcium, with studies showing that your body’s absorption rate of calcium is actually significantly more when consuming kale than drinking milk (roughly 40% absorption from the total available as compared to 32% from milk). Kale is no longer the pile of limp greens on the side of your plate that your mom insisted you had to eat if you wanted dessert – kale is hip, healthy, and totally delicious when prepared with a little love and creativity.

A quick Google search of the super-green led me to some great recipes and resources, and even prompted me to finally get the “official” kale soup recipe from my mother. If you are dying to know more about kale, which, really, who isn't, check out this beautiful blog entirely devoted to kale, kale recipes, kale photos, and other food for thought revolving entirely around kale. Health benefits of the super veg, magical Smitten Kitchen and Saveur kale recipes and photos, some more of the dirt on Trader Joe's big bag of kale, and the official NPR take on the chicken vs. kale story. Oh, and the soup recipe...

The first thing we noticed when my mother and I finally began to discuss what we will call the “official” Kale Soup Recipe was the phrase, “1 cup pea beans.”

“Oh dear,” I said. That’s not how we do it.

“Yeah,” my mom replied, “I don’t even know what those are.” 

A quick visit to Google confirmed that pea beans are what we most commonly call navy beans -- small white legumes, often of the dried variety. We, however, throughout numerous batches of the soup, had somehow switched to red kidney beans, and frankly, now ingrained in our new habits, are not turning back. It should also be mentioned that we are in no way attempting to claim this recipe as our own; we acknowledge fully that it came originally from some article in some newspaper at some point, but the details have long been forgotten, so we simply continue to think of the recipe as inherited from some greater, magical, editorial power. Whenever I see kale soup on a menu I am tempted to try it, knowing its leafy broth and slight spicy flavor is one of my favorites, but I find myself continually let down. This actually surprises me because the soup we make at home is made with a water base, not stock, but I think starting from scratch is what makes it so desirable; all the flavors taste clean, unadulterated, and fresh.

The Official Kale Soup Recipe
from some newspaper

Serves 6-8 people as a meal, more as a starter

1 cup pea beans (but actually, we use red kidney beans, dried or canned).

1 large onion, diced finely

1 lb linguica, cut into chunks

1 lb kale, stems cut off and leaves roughly chopped (leave center veins in, they will cook long enough to be tender)

1 tsp. salt

1 Tbs. pepper

1 Tbs. vinegar

2 cups potatoes, peeled, raw, cut into cubes

11 cups of water

          If using dried beans, begin by soaking them overnight and draining the next morning. If using canned, great, you’re ready to go. Add to a large stock pot the beans, onion, linquinca, kale, salt and pepper, and vinegar, cover with 10 cups of water and bring to a boil on the stovetop. Reduce the heat and cook at a gentle simmer for 2-3 hours or longer. Add potatoes and one more cup of water and cook until the potatoes are tender (about another half an hour).

          Though this soup can be served on the first day, we often like to make it a day in advance, allowing the vegetables and linguica to fully infuse the broth, and then add the potatoes on the second day when we near dinner time. You can let the pot simmer with the lid off to allow the soup to reduce, intensifying the flavor and allowing it to thicken slightly with the added starch of the spuds, or you can always add more water at any point to stretch the recipe, allowing the soup to simmer a bit more to build the flavors.

          Unfortunately, due to a camera malfunction, there are no photos of the most recent batch of soup to be shared, however, I do have a picture of the doodle I did of kale on a sticky note on the corner of my desk, if that helps...