Kale

A long time ago, I wrote a post about things I buy now that I never used to buy. I've thought about doing a 2013 version, because wow. I really could. One item that would be on that new list: kale. So I'll wait on the list for now and just write about kale.

I kinda feel like kale is trendy right now in the food blogging world. Luckily, I'm not a food blogger. I 'm just a regular old person whose friends are starting to find out that I like kale and are starting to ask me about it. I also feel like kale is one of those foods that whenever I hear someone say, "Oh, I love kale," I automatically disbelieve them.

Really? You LOVE kale? Not just you eat it sometimes and feel like a healthy-eating star? Not just "Yay, I don't hate kale!"? Not just "I bought some once and it didn't go to rot in the fridge!"?

But. Sorry. Unfortunately, I have to say, I love kale.

Here's a story for you. I read this book not long ago about how we all eat too much sugar and too much food that quickly turns to sugar and we're all going to get diabetes if we don't change our eating habits. I bought into it enough to look at my breakfast every day and say, "this is not working for me."

So I changed my breakfast from cereal to eggs and spinach.

Yup. Eggs and spinach. Repeat. Repeat until you one day raise your fork to your lips with the thought, "I don't like this breakfast at all. Why am I eating this?"

It's not really sustainable. About this time, I had a bunch of kale in the fridge because I was planning to make this kale recipe. So the next morning, instead of cooking spinach with my eggs, I cooked kale.

Isn't that a great story? If you are thinking, "how is that a story?" then you need to try it for yourself. Eat eggs and spinach for a while (if you can) and then one day eat kale and eggs. Just like that, you will understand.

You see, spinach is a very healthy green thing, and it has an important place. The problem is that it doesn't really have a taste. Or at least not a taste that is yummy. Plus, with anything more than about 30 seconds of cooking, spinach gets first soggy, then mushy, then slimy. Mmm!

But KALE, my friends. Kale actually has a taste. And while some call it a bitter green, any bitterness is easily tamed (or savored). And while I do actually eat raw kale at times, you can cook the stuff for a really long time and it's still not soggy, mushy, or ever ever slimy. I mean it.

So now you know what I have for breakfast most days.
1. Smallest skillet.
2. Heat a little olive oil.
3. Saute some onion or green onion or (I prefer) sweet onion.
4. Grab a large handful of kale (out of the bag of precut kale you can buy at BJ's) and drop it in the skillet.
5. Get a lid that fits tightly over the skillet and take it to the sink. Holding the lid upside-down, put a bit of water into the lid. Then put the lid on the skillet. Let the kale steam in there while you make toast for yourself or your kids.
6. Scramble an egg or two in a little bowl. Season with salt and pepper.
7. Pour the egg into the skillet with the steamed kale and sauteed onion. Cook until the egg is starting to set.
8. Flip it over with your best show-off chef skills (or with a spatula) and cook until the second side is set.

Of course, you could sometimes add cheese or fresh herbs around step 7 if you wanted to make it a little fancier. Even a tiny bit of feta is good. Cilantro is really good. Or, if you have them on hand, bell peppers are good around step 3. Actually, you can put anything in this. I almost feel a little silly writing this up as if it's a recipe. It's so simple. Also, I eat toast with it because I can.

But I can eat it (almost) every day and never think "Why am I eating this?"

Coming up: more ways to eat kale. This is doable, people. Stay tuned.