Warm Kale and Caramelized Mushroom Salad Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How do you make kale taste better? ›

If desired, season the sautéed kale with salt and pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice. For more flavor, try sautéing kale in this hearty lentil skillet or with some prosciutto and sweet potatoes.

Our go-to method: Add chopped kale to a large bowl and top with lemon juice and olive oil. Use clean hands to massage for about 3 minutes to soften the leaves and infuse the leaves with the oil and lemon. A pinch of salt added near the end of massaging adds even more flavor.

Instead, after you've washed the leaves, leave them damp. The water that clings to the leaves will create steam when you toss them in the hot skillet. As the kale cooks, you'll cover the skillet for a few minutes; that steam will help wilt and break down the kale perfectly.

Best for: Smoothies and salads

Red kale is often considered the sweetest kale, which makes it perfect for eating raw. Another great option? Using it in juices, smoothies, and salads — just massage and soften the leaves with your hands to break down the fiber and make it easier for digestion, says Torchia.

Adding salt and squeezing lemon make a big difference by removing bitterness.

These vegetables are rich in compounds known as glucosinolates, which are responsible for their characteristic bitter taste. When kale is eaten raw, the glucosinolates in the leaves are broken down into various compounds, including isothiocyanates, which are responsible for the bitter taste.

Cover with a lid and allow the water to come back to a boil. Then reduce the heat slightly and allow the kale to boil for five minutes. After five minutes, use a fork to retrieve a piece of kale and test it for tenderness. The kale should be soft and smooth.

Kale will benefit from some gentle kneading to soften its texture. A bit of oil can help to break down the fibrous membranes as well. Here's how: Wash the kale and remove the leaves from the stems. Tear the leaves into smaller pieces and rub them in your hands with olive oil and salt.

Blanching kale allows it to hold onto its color, as well as many of its nutrients. Kale that has been boiled too long appears wilted and gray. The nutrients leach into the water, which you can use to make a stock.

To preserve nutrients, don't cook kale for more than 10 minutes over high heat (in a skillet or oven at 400°F). Limit baking kale to 25 to 30 minutes at 350°F. Don't prewash kale before using, it can wilt the leaves quickly. Don't toss out wilted kale — simply slice it up, toss with olive oil, salt and pepper.

How do you make sautéed kale less bitter? ›

Another trick that works with kale, I don't know why this works, but if you add just a little bit of lemon to kale, which is bitter, it actually makes the kale taste less bitter.

RELATED: Believe It Or Not, Kale Actually Lives Up To All Of Its Hype—Here's Why. Manganiello says you can eat kale every day, just don't overdo it. She recommends one to two servings maximum of kale per day, leaving room for other healthy foods that provide an assortment of nutrients.

Use your hands to toss the greens, massaging/rubbing the vinaigrette into the kale a bit as you toss. Taste and correct the seasoning with salt and pepper. Let the salad sit for at least 10 minutes before serving. Even better—if time allows, cover the salad, and let it sit in the fridge for 30 minutes to an hour.

Kale has the buzz. But collard greens — kale's first cousin — are still uncommon. Standard fare in the American South, in the rest of the nation many are unfamiliar with these large, flat, oval, white-ribbed leaves. Yet they are nutritional superstars equal to if not surpassing kale!

Add Sweet to Kale: Sweet foods go well with kale because they counter its rather bitter taste. Serve curly kale up as a salad with simple ingredients like a blood orange, mango and slivered almonds or apple, feta and toasted walnuts or cook kale up with caramelized onion.

While raw kale may boast the highest nutrient content, the study found that steaming retained the most antioxidants and minerals, compared with other cooking methods ( 7 ).