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What is Kale and How to Use it in Cooking

Kale is something that many cooks have not come across but if you find out a little more about it, you will find out that kale is very versatile and can be used in many different recipes. Kale is a delicious leafy green and there are many kale recipes to choose from out there. You might want to try a kale soup recipe, a kale salad recipe or add it to stews and casseroles.

Kale was the most common green vegetable in Europe until the 1600s, and even before that, we have had evidence of the cultivation of Kale going back to the fourth century BC in Greece. Kale was a favorite addition to the British Victory Gardens of World War II, and today, people are finding more reasons than ever to add it to their diets.

If you have been out for dinner several nights in a row or not cooked for another reason, you have probably opened your refrigerator door at some point and winced at a soggy, brown pile of what were once vegetables. Kale freezes very well and actually tastes sweeter after being exposed to a frost. If you have fresh kale and especially fresh kale shoots which are very tender, try adding them to a salad. If you are making a kale salad, you might also want to add strong peppers, roasted nuts and peanuts, all of which bring out the strong, smoky flavor.

Kale is eaten all over the globe and there are a lot of kale recipes you can use. If you want to learn how to cook kale, the good news is that cooking kale is easy and it can be cooked in various ways. If you prefer cooked vegetables to raw ones, you can look at southern African recipes where kale is boiled with coconut milk and ground or powdered peanuts. This mixture is served on flat bread or rice. If you are a vegetarian or just enjoy vegetarian recipes from time to time, using kale in this way is a good way to cut back on eating meat and replacing it with something delicious and rich in flavor.

Kale is frequently combined with ground, sliced meat, such as ground beef, or spiced sausage, in European kale recipes. It can be mixed with broth, olive oil, and potatoes and served as an accompaniment to the meat. A milder vegetable might not be able to stand up to the strong meat flavor but kale does the job excellently because of its strong, rich flavor. Something else you can do with kale is to cut it up and add it to stir-fries, something that is popular all over the world.

When you are looking to stir-fry kale, try adding Japanese shiitake mushrooms to the mix. Remove the kale's stems and slice the leaves into large chunks. Heat some oil in your frying pan or wok, and gently fry up the mushrooms, garlic, and anything else you think might be tasty. When these ingredients are relatively tender, add kale, and seasons like soy sauce, pepper, and sesame oil, and you will have a tasty dish in very short order.

Kale is very underrated but you can see now that it can be used in many different recipes. So why not buy some kale the next time you shop for vegetables and discover its unique taste for yourself!

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