Vegetable of the Month: Kale

I have a feeling when my sister-in-law reads the title of this entry that she's going to gag a little bit.  I can't say I blame her.  She and I share an aversion to funky foods.  Or foods that seem too healthy.  Too weird.  But as I said, I resolve to do better.  Remember my mantra -

I just want to do better.

Better does not mean perfect.  Better does not mean fanatical.  I just want to train my palette to appreciate the beauty of real foods.  Real foods that consist of one, and only one, ingredient.  Real foods that God put here on this Earth to nurture us and satiate us, and hopefully bring us joy.  Isn't that what eating is supposed to be about?

So for the year of 2012, I'm going to (among other things) pick a new vegetable each month and resolve to prepare it in 2-3 different ways.  I will force my husband and I to eat what I make, while encouraging the kids to take a taste.  Ideally I'd like to pick the vegetable based on what's in season, and what I can get locally...but for now, one step at a time.  A new vegetable is a new vegetable, and whatever looks good at Whole Foods is what I'm going to pick.

January's Vegetable of the Month: KALE.

Kale Dish #1: White Bean Stew & Greens
I have to say it was pretty stinking good.  But then I'm a big fan of bacon, so it never hurts to try something new when it's cooked alongside of bacon.  (Some people need sugar to help the medicine go down...for me, it could be bacon.)  I followed the recipe exactly as written.  I used canned beans, but I'm in the process of transitioning us out of most canned goods.  I've been reading some scary things lately about the chemicals found in those cans, and until the claims can be proven true or false, I feel it's best to just reduce consumption.  But that being said, I happened to have 2 cans of cannellini beans in my pantry, and I hate to waste.  So I used them...then replaced them with their dried counterparts for next time.  So back to the recipe - when I cut the kale, I sliced off the long stems at the end, then stacked up all the leaves and cut them into 1-inch slices.  I didn't realize though that some of the leaves were so wide and therefore I got some really huge pieces of kale.  Which made for quite a mouthful of the green stuff in some bites.  So lesson learned - next time I will chop the kale in smaller pieces.  I also could have cooked it another minute or two.  Other than that, my first foray into kale was a huge success!  Hubby ate 2 helpings.  I made the kids plain bacon, then picked out the cannellini beans from the dish and served them each a bowl of those.  And whenever I don't have to make something completely separate for the kids, then in my book that dinner is a winner.  (For the record, I didn't even pick the battle of having them try the kale.  Not this time at least.)

Kale Dish #2 - KALE CHIPS....stay tuned.  Kale Dish #3....no idea.  Any suggestions readers?