I’ve got creative ideas for cooking with kale in Autumn:

1.  Kale & Grains

Amongst inspiring photographs and personal stories in the Big Sur Bakery Cookbook, you’ll find a nourishing recipe for Pearl Barley with Kale and Butternut Squash. The barley is sautéed with caramelized onions, carrots, celery, chile, and garlic, then the pan is deglazed with Guiness. Beef stock is added, then the mixture is simmered until the barley is tender. In the end the grains are tossed with roasted butternut squash and cooked kale. What a rich and warming dish for autumn!

2.  Kale Chips

Mad Hungry by Lucinda Scala Quinn is a beautifully written book on how to cook for boys, and raise them into self-sufficient men. Lucinda aims to bring families together for meals, while covering the basics of setting up and running an efficient kitchen. One of her lessons, “Start them young on cooked greens,” includes a fun and easy recipe for kale chips. Simply toss pieces of Tuscan kale with olive oil, salt, and pepper then bake in the oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for about 15 minutes (until crisp).

3.  Braised Kale

In A16, Nate Appleman shares a recipe for Braised Lacinato Kale with Tomato and Anchovy Soffritto. He writes, “In our soffritto, aromatic ingredients are simmered in ample olive oil over low heat and then tossed with a vegetable, infusing it with a deep, slow-cooked flavor.” Both the ribs and leaves are cooked in boiling water until tender, then tossed with the soffrito and heated through. The result is a bowl of piquant, flavorful greens to serve alongside roasted meat or fish.

4.  Soup

Nigel Slater credits the popularity of Tuscan kale to Ruth Rogers and Rose Gray of the London River Cafe, who toss it in their soups. Their book, Italian Easy, details a recipe for Cavolo Nero Soup in which black kale is simmered in chicken stock with canned tomatoes, soffrito, fennel seed, dried chile, garlic, and borlotti beans. Drizzle the finished soup with a spicy Italian extra-virgin olive oil. Bill Telepan’s book, Inspired by Ingredients has a recipe for Chickpea Soup with Rosemary Croutons and Black Kale that is unique with a nod to the flavors of Italy. I love his idea to purée some of the chickpeas to thicken the soup, leaving the rest whole for texture. Pieces of black kale simmer in a tomato and chicken stock broth with chickpeas. Croutons flavored with rosemary serve as a garnish.

5.  Kale & Eggs

Judy Rodgers suggests cracking an egg per person into a sauté pan filled with simmering kale in her book, The Zuni Cafe Cookbook. The eggs are served with greens and pot likker, a drizzle of olive oil and a side of toast. Though she acknowledges the dish sounds dull, she advocates that it’s delicious. To me it’s a rustic, simple delight. I recently made a Spanish tortilla, a baked omelette, with sautéed kale, squash, garlic, and cherry tomatoes that was a real treat.

6.  Kale & Polenta

The sweet creaminess of polenta is a satisfying match for savory, nutty kale. Lida Bastianich serves kale sautéed with diced bacon and cannellini beans atop polenta in Lidia Cooks From the Heart of Italy. She suggests topping this simple, satisfying supper with genuine fontina cheese from Valle d’Aosta. Jack Bishop shares a recipe for Kale and Polenta Pie in his book, Vegetables Every Day. He simply boils kale in water, then pours instant polenta into the pot, and stirs the mixture until it is smooth. A handful of grated Parmesan is added and the mixture is transferred to a cake pan. Bake it for twenty minutes and you’ve got a lovely side for slow cooked meats.

7.  Kale Sautéed with Raisins

Madhur Jaffrey, the authority on Indian cuisine, was featured in Saveur this month for making the most of her tiny kitchen. Her book, Madhur Jaffrey’s World Vegetarian, includes a recipe for Black Tuscan Kale with Raisins that combines bitter and sweet for a side dish that’s sure to wake up your palate. Kale is cut into strips, then sautéed in oil with a dried hot red chile, garlic, and raisins. Simmer in vegetable stock until the kale is tender and serve it as a side dish, a topping for mashed/baked potato, or combined with ricotta as a filling for savory turnovers.

8.  Kale Panini

Cooking in the Moment is a book dedicated to cooking with foods from farmers markets year-round. Billy Cotter shares a recipe from his restaurant, Toast, developed for his vegetarian wife. He blanches kale, then squeezes out all the water and layers it on rustic bread with pickled peppers and feta for a filling sandwich cooked on a panini press. For the carnivores, I’m thinking bacon, kale, and a nutty, melty Swiss cheese like Gruyère. Panini and a side of tomato soup is the perfect fall lunch.

9.  Red Russian Kale with Lemon & Garlic

In his book, Tender, Nigel Slater suggests that the young, feathery leaves of Red Russian kale need only a brief dip in boiling water before they get tossed into a pan of butter flavored with garlic and lemon zest. Quickly cooked, these greens are delicious served aside delicate fillet of fish.

10.  Stir Fry

I love Jack Bishop’s idea of using sturdy kale in an Asian stir fry. In his book, Vegetables Every Day, Jack cooks kale quickly in a searing hot pan. He flavors this slightly bitter leafy green with soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, hot red pepper flakes, and mirin (Japanese sweet wine). Once cooked the kale is tossed with soba noodles. This would be a great meatless Monday dish.

What is your favorite way to cook with kale? Let me know in the comments section. Click Here.