Creamed Tuscan Kale

I love Tuscan Kale, also known as Black Cabbage and Dinosaur Kale. My favorite way to make it is to make crispy chips from it. Last night I made a simple creamed dish with it and it was over the top delicious. Fortunately I made a large batch and had some more for breakfast.

Creamed Tuscan Kale
*You may use other kale, but this one is particularly tender. I suggest blanching other kinds of kale for one minute in boiling water, then to an ice bath before proceeding with this method.
Ingredients:

About 1# of Tuscan/Dinosaur Kale (the smaller leaves the better for this recipe) washed and dried
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 tablespoons cake flour
1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream
1 nut of nutmeg
zest of one lemon
salt to taste

• Rough chop the kale. 
• In  a wok, sauté the kale till limp
• Sprinkle the cake flour on the kale and stir 
• Add cream and stir 
• Add nutmeg and lemon zest, stirring till the cream thickens slightly. 
• Taste and add salt as needed 

How easy is that? 

Crispy Kale Chips

This is one of my favorite snacks and something that gets immediately grabbed at my dinner parties. It is so simple to make and very healthy too. The crisp leaves of the kale have better flavor than any potato chip you will ever eat! It is also a good way to get kids or husbands/picky eaters to eat their greens. I wish I would have known about this when my kids were small, I had to rely on zucchini fries and fried green tomatoes that we called "Tomato Chips" as disguised veggies.

All you do is take some Dinosaur Kale, also known as Tuscan Kale and toss it is a bit of olive oil sprinkle with sea salt and bake at 350 for about 15 minutes. I use a silpat sheet on my baking sheets, but you do not have to, you can also place baking parchment on the baking sheets. If the kale is mature, the leaves are 10-12" long and the rib in the center is quite thick, so you should cut the rib out, making two smaller leaves. If it is young kale, you can leave it in. We have several organic growers that grow the Tuscan Kale and it is available here year round at our farmer's markets.