Kale and cabbage are interchangeable for most purposes. I think kale requires longer cooking than cabbage. Sample it occasionally for doneness.

Portuguese Kale Soup

Short answer, yes, many dishes calling for cabbage could be made with kale. It isn't as sweet, and it's flavor is a bit "greener" if that makes any sense.

Depending on the size of the leaves, the stems/ribs can be stringy and tough. Remove the larger ones if this is the case. Medium sized ones that are just a little so can be sliced on the diagonal to ensure the strings are in short pieces. Small, tender ones can be left as is.

Kale is very good cooked as other greens like mustard or turnip greens. It can be cooked down, the way Southerners tend to cook it, or more quickly cooked, so it retains some "tooth" and the brighter green color. I like it both ways.

A good basic method is to dice bacon and slowly cook it to crisp in a heavy bottom pan. Remove bacon, leaving the fat in the pan. Add sliced onions and saute until limp, add some smashed garlic, some red pepper flakes (if you like)and then the rinsed, but still wet kale.

Over a med-high heat, saute the kale, turning frequently (I use tongs for this) until tender but still bright green. I particularly like this with soft polenta Bolognese. If you want them cooked down like Country greens, just add a bit of stock at this point and simmer them until they are the consistency you prefer.

Tender kale leaves are also a nice addition, julienned, to tossed salad or stir fries. Larger, tougher leaves are good in soups.

White bean and kale soup is very good. I don't have a recipe to hand as I just make it, but I'm sure you could very easily google up a recipe if you've not made it before.

As rachelellen mentioned, white bean and kale soup is very good, although I'd probably not make it right now, while it's in the 90s...

I like mine just sauteed with some olive oil, onions and garlic, but it's also good cooked for a long time with a smoked pork hock or a ham bone.

I really like this soup with a lot of vegetables, I found it on Allrecipes last year. I didn't have leeks or savoy cabbage so I left them out.

Italian Ribollita (Vegetable and Bread Soup)
Servings: 8

"A hearty mix of carrots, onion, potatoes, zucchini, cannelini beans, leeks, Swiss chard, kale, and Savoy cabbage layered with bread, this Italian-inspired soup makes the perfect winter or rainy day meal."

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large red onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
4 potatoes, diced
10 (5 inch) zucchini, diced
1 leek, sliced
1 quart hot water
1 bunch Swiss chard, chopped
1 head Savoy cabbage, quartered, cored
and shredded
1 bunch kale, shredded
2 (15.5 ounce) cans cannellini beans,
drained and rinsed
salt and ground black pepper to taste
3 tablespoons tomato puree
8 slices day-old bread

Directions:
1. Place the olive oil in a deep pan and heat over medium-high heat. Stir in the onion, and cook until transparent, about 5 minutes. Mix in the carrots, celery, potatoes, zucchini, and leek. Stir and cook 5 minutes more. Pour in the hot water to cover the vegetables. Stir in the Swiss chard, Savoy cabbage, and kale. Cover, reduce heat to medium, and simmer for 1 hour.
2. Place 1 can of beans in a blender or food processor bowl. Blend until smooth. Stir pureed beans into the vegetable mixture along with the second can of beans. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Reduce heat to low, and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the tomato puree.
3. Prepare the soup by layering slices of bread with the vegetable mixture in a casserole or soup dish. Cover, and refrigerate for at least 8 hours, or overnight.
4. To serve the soup, place in a pot, and reheat over medium heat. Serve hot.

Annie

Oops, I forgot to say to put the crisp bacon bits back into the kale just before serving! :0

Also, sorry about telling you to google for white bean and kale soup when Jim had just posted a recipe...I got a phone call half way when I was typing my reply (Jim hadn't replied when I started) and I didn't notice he'd posted a recipe before I finished. His recipe sounds about like what I do except that I tend to put a few more vegetables in it and make it with ham instead of sausage...but I might try it with sausage next time, it sounds good.

"...I didn't notice he'd posted a recipe before I finished."

Don't you hate it when that happens? It's embarrassing. You explained it gracefully. Thanks.

Jim

I second Kale soup. I love the stuff. I make mine similar to Jimster except I use kidney beans instead of white beans and I add a couple of diced potatoes to it as well.

My favorite is a massaged kale salad. Massaging with the oil and salt takes away the bitterness of the raw kale, and makes it tender without cooking.

Basically you just de-stem and dice up the kale, then pour a little olive oil and salt over it and rub it with your hands to massage the salt and oil into all the leaves for a few minutes. It'll wilt down considerably. Then add half an avocado and massage it in as well. You could use a spoon of course but I like to really mix it in with the kale with my hands. Finish it with some lemon juice. I also like to add scallions. It's creamy and bright and so healthy.

It's amazingly good and perfect for summer. I eat a pound a day of kale easily with this salad.

aprile421,

Your recipe is a very popular version of Kale Soup. I see it a lot.

Jim

I would eat soup every day...even in this heat but the hubs prob would not....alas I could make it and freeze it.

I was actually thinking maybe a stir fry??

Believe me there is a lot of KALE to deal with LOL!!!

Thanks guys!!
Susie

Yes, it's a lot of kale when it's fresh. But, as you know, greens cook down to a much smaller volume.

Jim

I make a pie Finely dice a couple of onions, 3 or so cloves garlic and a couple of potatoes. Fry covered until all is tender. Add finely sliced and de-ribbed kale. Cook until tender. Let cool, then add a beaten egg, nutmeg, salt and pepper and a packet of crumbled feta. Make into a pie with the pastry of your choice. Lovely warm or cold.
I love he idea of that massaged salad! That's for tonight!

Jimster- I just recently learned how to make it. I moved up here from Fl and I had no idea what Linguica, Chorico or Kale Soup was. Once I got my first taste I was hooked.

You must be pretty close to me as I find that Linguica and Chorico are very localized foods unless you order them online.

Are you near the SouthCoast of Ma? I am just outside New Bedford and Fall River which seem to be the only areas around here you can find those things.

aprile421,

I'm on Cape Cod. You will find Portuguese sausage all along the southern New England coast from Providence to Provincetown. Nowhere more than New Bedford or Fall River. The popular brands are made in New Bedford, as I'm sure you know. Many people from Cape Verde settled here a couple of generations ago to work in the fishing industry. And BTW, Emeril sometimes mentions growing up in Fall River and talks about his mother's cooking.

Jim

I have heard he was from Fall River.

I wasn't aware that it was available in the Cape. If you go up to Boston most look at you funny if you ask for pizza or anything with Linguica.

I am trying to learn how to make Cacoila. My husband is Portugese but his family are not big cooks. I am having to learn to make these things by trial and error. I want to learn to make Chorico and Potatoes with the red sauce but have no idea where to start.

Anyways, thank you for your replies. It is nice to have someone close by who understands what some of our local fare is. On other cooking boards I visit I have to explain what it is most of the time.

A friend of mine made me some Kale Chips in her dehydrator but I've looked online and if you dont have a dehydrator, you can just use the oven. These are so good!

1 bunch kale
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon seasoned salt

Pretty easy too, line a cookie sheet w/parchment paper, wash and trim the kale (removing stems) and dry it good. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle on salt. Then just bake it for about 10 or 15 minutes at 350.

This was a recipe from online but my friend put vinegar in hers. If you are interested, I can get her exact recipe for you.

If you have more than you can eat right now, blanch some and freeze it for later. Remember, though, it does cook down some.

My favorite way to cook kale is the way that some have already mentioned, and that is to saute it with some onions and garlic, and sometimes sliced peppers, sweet or hot. Sometimes I like to add cumin or curry with it. As for soups, it's good with lentils, too. Adding an acid, such as pepper vinegar (a good southern tradition, or lemon juice, or any vinegar of your choice, helps to sweeten, or dampen any possible bitterness the kale may have.

Sally

Shaun, I'm interested! It sounds like this could be a very tasty, healthy sort of munchie. I love anything crispy with salt, (potato chips are my worst temptation) and if I like these, I won't feel as bad about indulging that taste.

Rachelellen, she said she used the recipe on the below site

Here is a link that might be useful: Kale Chips

"$10 Dinners" showed a kale salad on her program this morning. You may want to check it out.

Just a quick update.

I made the soup with most of the Kale!!
I really enjoyed it with some parma cheese on top and a drizzle of evo.

I froze most of it for later use!

I will def plant Kale in my garden!!

Cheers!
Susie

Shaun, there's an organic cafe in town and they sell a sandwich bag of 'kale chips' for $5. The dehydrator's always on, so people must buy them. They are yummy. The kid works at the owner's accounting firm...she's supposed to be getting their recipe, but all I've heard so far is that they use Johnny's Seasoning Salt.

I thought maybe they were blanched before drying...what chi83 said about the oil and salt wilting it might explain why the chips look like they were cooked a bit. I'll have to try massaging my kale, hehe.

I planted kale for the first time so I could experiment with the chips, but we've been eating it as fast as it grows. Row #2 was planted last week.