Roasted Roots (recipe)

I've been trying to find uses for kale. I know kale is supposed to be really, really good for a body, but the first recipe I tried I found it intolerable and impossible to eat. It hurts. The texture is hard, the edges are sharp, chewing is too much work, and the taste is nasty. Like spinach only stronger. Then I read kale also thickens blood. This is great if you have thin blood, but thick blood runs in my family and although I probably don't eat, drink or smoke like my relatives have done throughout the ages, this still might make me susceptible to heart attacks and blood clots. Still, extra minerals added to my diet are a good thing now and then.

Then I found this roasted root recipe out of Chef Daniel Bruce: Simply New England cookbook that mixes root vegetables with kale. Roasted roots are also very good for a body loaded with vitamins and minerals, and yummy as warm winter meals. The kale is not only mixed with something, but cut up into teeny, tiny little bits so I thought I might be able to tolerate that! What I didn't realize until I went shopping for ingredients is there are different types of kale.



Italian Lacinato Kale

What I purchased for the first recipe was "Green Kale." Really curly, and like I mentioned previously, sharp and painful. This new discovery is called "Italian Kale" or "Lacinato Kale." No sharpness. No pain.

Ingredients:

2 medium peeled carrots
1 small peeled butternut squash
1 small rutabaga
1 medium peeled red onion
1 cup chopped kale
1/4 cup olive oil
2/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Preheat oven 425 degrees. Cut veggies into 1/2 inch pieces. Toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Spread on cookie sheet. Bake 15 minutes, toss, bake another 15 minutes. Return to bowl. Stir in kale, cover, let sit 5 minutes. Serve.

Yum.

I've also been mixing teeny pieces of Italian Kale in my green salads. Tolerable.

Another person told me about kale chips so I tried them. Yuck. I was surprised they turned into crispy chips rather than soggy green, but they still tasted like kale and all alone not mixed with anything that's too much kale-ness for me!