I love kale and cook it for a long time. I used to cook it for about an hour and a half, but I watched Chef Charlie Trotter cook it on PBS one day and he cooks it for three hours, so that's what I do now. I start it with a little onion or shallot sauteed in bacon grease, add the washed, roughly chopped kale, add a little water or chicken stock, cover and cook for three hours on lowest heat. Check occasionally and add more liquid as needed. I think he made some kind of a sauce to go with the kale, but I love it plain.

I guess it may depend on the type of kale. I really like Lacinato kale. I stir fry it for about 3 minutes until it is glossy green. I use anchovies, garlic and whatever type of oil floats my boat that day. It is always delicious and it is usually the first to be eaten in my house.

Good luck!

Here's a classic (some tweaking on my part):

POTATO SAUSAGE SOUP

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

3 links sweet Italian sausage
2 medium baking potatoes, cubed
2 ¼-inch-thick slices pancetta, chopped (or 3 slices bacon)
¾ cup onions, chopped
1 medium to large clove garlic, thinly sliced
2 cups kale, cut in half, then sliced (almost chiffonade)
4 cups chicken broth
½ cup heavy cream

Directions

Remove sausage from casings; brown in a soup pot, breaking up, until cooked through. Remove with slotted spoon and set aside.

Place onions and pancetta into the pot and cook over medium heat until onions are tender.

Add garlic and cook 1 minute longer.

Add chicken broth and potatoes and simmer 15 minutes or until potato is almost fork tender.

Add sausage and kale and simmer 6 minutes.

Add cream and heat through. Salt and pepper to taste (you probably wonÂt need salt).

Serve with fresh-grated parmesan.

Joe

I just wash, spine it and chop. Saute with chopped onion and a some garlic. I add it to soups. I also saute it with onion, add crushed tomato and the bean of choice. (pinto, black, whatever you like) add your favorite herbs like basil, italian and let it simmer a while.

Elery likes white bean and kale soup. I like kale just cooked until wilted and tender in some olive oil with onion and garlic.

Pork, White Bean & Kale Soup
Makes 6 servings, about 1 2/3 cups each

Ingredients
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 pound pork tenderloin, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 medium onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons paprika, preferably smoked
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper, or to taste (optional)
1 cup white wine
4 plum tomatoes, chopped
4 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 bunch kale, ribs removed, chopped (about 8 cups lightly packed)
1 15-ounce can white beans, rinsed

1. Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add pork, sprinkle with salt and cook, stirring once or twice, until no longer pink on the outside, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a plate with tongs, leaving juices in the pot.
2. Add onion to the pot and cook, stirring often, until just beginning to brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Add garlic, paprika and crushed red pepper (if using) and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add wine and tomatoes, increase heat to high and stir to scrape up any browned bits. Add broth and bring to a boil.
3. Add kale and stir just until it wilts. Reduce heat to maintain a lively simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the kale is just tender, about 4 minutes. Stir in beans, the reserved pork and any accumulated juices; simmer until the beans and pork are heated through, about 2 minutes.

Tip: While we love the convenience of canned beans, they tend to be high in sodium. Give them a good rinse before adding to a recipe to rid them of some of their sodium (up to 35 percent) or opt for low-sodium or no-salt-added varieties. (Our recipes are analyzed with rinsed, regular canned beans.) Or, if you have the time, cook your own beans from scratch.
Per serving: 262 calories; 6 g fat (1 g sat, 3 g mono); 45 mg cholesterol; 26 g carbohydrate; 25 g protein; 7 g fiber; 627 mg sodium; 1,024 mg potassium.
Nutrition bonus: Vitamin A (290% daily value), Vitamin C (190% dv), Potassium (29% dv), Iron (20% dv).
1 Carbohydrate Serving

(From Eating Well)

Annie
Exchanges: 1 starch, 2 vegetable, 2 lean meat

Pork, White Bean & Kale Soup
Nutrition Information Cont.

Portuguese culture is prevalent along the Southern New England coast, including here on Cape Cod. Without question, the most often seen Portuguese dish on restaurant menus is Portuguese Kale Soup. I can't lay my hands on the recipe right now, but it's nearly identical to Annie's kale soup. If you substituted linquica (Portuguese sausage similar to pepperoni) for the pork and omitted the tomatoes, you would have it. Even using pork, although I haven't seen that done, would be in keeping with Portuguese cooking style.

Kale soup can be made 50/50 kale and cabbage or just one or the other. It's good in any of these ways and equally nutritious.

Minestrone is another soup in which I like to feature kale. It makes a great contribution to taste and eye appeal. Naturally, lacinato kale is ideal for this if you have it, but any kale is good.

Jim

Vitamix smoothie with a banana and grapes. It is a little bitter from the kale but you can add 1/4 packet stevia to hide the bitterness. Other than that delish!!

I love kale over polenta. It's one of those things that I just make though, and I haven't written the recipe out.

I soak some dried shiitake mushrooms for several hours...rinse them and strain the liquid for any grit. Then I heat the liquid and add some beef base (not bouillon!) and set it aside. Next, saute some onions, garlic and fresh button mushrooms in butter until the onions are limp and then add the kale and shiitake mushrooms...at this point I also add whatever other seasonings I might like, such as black pepper or fresh herbs. (I have also made this with fresh shiitakes or other types of mushrooms, in which case I add a little powdered mushroom to stock to make the liquid for the sauce)

When I prep the kale, I tear out the ribs, and slice them on the diagonal so they will cook more quickly and tear up the leaves. The ribs go into the pan first, and when they soften a bit, the greens go in. Saute the greens until they turn a rich emerald green and then add the reserved mushroom and beef base liquid. Simmer until the greens are cooked as you like them (I like them to still have a bit of body, but some people prefer them quite soft). Then thicken the sauce with a bit of cornstarch dissolved in water. Serve this over a pile of soft polenta (I like it made with cheese) or squares of grilled polenta.

This is a very tasty meal as it is, or with simple grilled meats.

Soup weather is just about over here, but here' one I like, and it's sans meat, and from a low cal cookbook--"Moosewood Restaurant Lowfat Favorites." You can always add some ham.

Creamy Potato Kale Soup

1 cup finely chopped onions
2/3 cup finely chopped leeks
1/2 tsp. salt
1 TBLSP canola or other vegetabl oil
4 cups basic vegetable stock (could probably use chicken stock)
4 cups coarsely chopped potatoes
1/4 tsp. ground fennel
1/2 cup chopped celery
2 TBLSP white wine
1/2 tsp. dried dill
2 tsp. Dijon mustard
2 TBLSP minced scallions
1 1/2 TBLSP minced fresh basil (I probably used 1 1/2 tsp. dried)
1/2 cup evaporated skim milk (I may have used regular 2%)
4 cups loosely packed shredded kale (My notes say, "chop fine in food processor" which I probably did after they were cooked)
Salt and ground black pepper to taste
Squeeze of fresh lemon juice (optional)

In a 3-4 qt. covered soup pot, saute the onions, leeks and salt in the oil on very low heat for about 7 minutes, until tender. Add the stock and bring it to a boil. Add the potatoes, fennel, celery, wine and dill. Simmer for about 20 min. covered, until the potatoes are tender. IN a blender or food processor, puree the soup in batches until smooth. Return the soup to the pot and sir in the mustard, scallions, basil and evaporated skim milk.

In a separate pot, gently boil the kale in just enough water to cover. When the kale is just tender, drain it and stir it into the soup. Add salt and pepper to taste, and lemon juice, if desired. Carefully reheat the soup until it is very hot but not boiling.

Lpink's notes: There's a lot of seasonings in this soup which is what you do when you're cutting fat and not including meat. If you added meat you probably wouldn't need the Dijon, and if you added sausage, no fennel either. Also, personally I'd add the chopped kale in with the stock and potatoes, because if you drain boiled kale you are draining away nutrients. Then I'd loosely puree in the food processor. I like peasant style lumpy soup. The other technique is just to make it more elegant looking. As I recall, I probably made this with frozen chopped kale, which I used to be able to get at the grocery store.

There are two other recipes in this cookbook, which I have not made, one for "Carolina Kale" which is kale in a spicy tomato sauce (also sans meat), and Kale squash rissoto. You can always add some meat to these vegetarian dishes. I'll post them if you like, let me know. Have not made them though. They sound good. I rarely fuss with fresh kale, and since the store stopped carrying the chopped frozen kale, I don't eat it much. I like it but it just doesn't fit in with my hectic lifestyle.

There was a thread on the Recipe forum this past winter about kale that might also give you some good ideas.

seagrass

Here is a link that might be useful: Kale

I usually remove the heavier part of the ribs though probably still good if you don't. I saw Jacques Pepin on TV promote a recipe that was basically roasted kale. Here's a link I found where someone else saw it also though they are saying bake for 40 minutes and I think that is a bit longer than necessary. Give it a try.
I like mine steamed with some earth balance butter spread.

Here is a link that might be useful: bake/roast kale

Everything you ever wanted to know about Kale can be found on Wikipedia... ( Link below )

Personally I like Curly Kale raw... All by itself...

Stay away from it if you are on blood thinners.

RitaOtay

Here is a link that might be useful: Wikipedia - Kale

Here is a recipe I got off foodnetwork.com. It is an Emeril Lagasse recipe. When I make it, I use just a little bacon fat combined with canola oil (which I've just read is not as good for me as I thought!) Also, I do not keep molasses in the pantry. Cooks Thesaurus suggested honey as a substitute and it worked just fine in this recipe.

3/4 pound sliced bacon
3 cups sliced onions
8 cloves garlic, mashed
3 teaspoons salt
3/4 teaspoon cayenne
3/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 quart water
1 (12-ounce) can beer
1/4 cup distilled white vinegar
2 tablespoons molasses or cane syrup
5 pounds fresh greens, such as mustard greens, collard greens, turnip greens, or kale, rinsed well, picked over and tough stems removed

In a large, heavy pot cook the bacon until it has rendered most of its fat, about 5 to 6 minutes. Add the onions, garlic, salt, cayenne, and black pepper and cook until the onions are wilted, about 4 minutes. Add 1 quart of water, the beer, vinegar, and molasses and bring to a boil. Begin adding the greens in batches, pressing down with a wooden spoon to submerge them in the hot liquid and adding more as they wilt. When all of the greens have been added, reduce the heat to a simmer and cook the greens, partially covered and stirring occasionally, for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until tender