I grew up in Texas during WWII, when everyone I knew had a garden. It was considered the patriotic thing to do. So, if a person should want to eat greens, we had spinach, turnip greens, mustard greens, a leafy kind of lettuce, and poke sallet.
Missing from the line up was kale. I never heard of it. Later I remember it being used as a garnish to bring color to the plate — never to eat. I guess it’s a matter of geography because in England, kale was the go-to greens grown in their victory gardens during the Great War.
But when my youngest son, who makes his home in health-conscious Oregon, ordered an Island Green (spinach, kale, mango, banana) from our favorite smoothie place … well. I like greens okay, but not in my dessert!
So if you are interested in healthy eating: kale is in, gluten is out. It has something to do with Celiac Disease, which forces many people to stick to a gluten-free diet.
For those in the food service industry this has presented a real challenge.
And since necessity is the mother of invention … voila! … gluten-free pizza! The crust is made of chicken. It’s also no-carb so it satisfies the Keto-diet users. A downside might be that it’s always thin crust — no stuffing there.
So, at the end of the day, if we are what we eat, I want to be a chicken fried steak. Cooked Texas style, dropped in the frylator and covered with white gravy.
With a kale garnish, of course.
Me, too, Dot with a side of mashed potatoes and more white gravy!
I love to make Chard. First I make red onion jam (cook down some think sliced red onion with a tiny dab of salt until really well carmelized, next add into the skillet 1/3 cup each red wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar and port wine; next cook that until the liqiuds are almost completely boiled off; I set this aside and take a pacakge of diced up pancetta – usually from Trader Joe’s – saute it in a second skillet until crispy, along with the diced up Chard stems- no pancetta, no worries, just fry up some bacon – now I toss the cut up Chard leaves into the skillet with the pancetta and add a tiny bit of water, cook until the Chard starts to will – toss the red onion.jam.in and stir it all together – serve hot).
I grew up Southern, where all vegetables are cooked with bacon – or at least bacon grease. I am a modern sensible cook, my bacon grease is kept in the fridge.