This post is dedicated to my friend Meg who showed up at my door last week with a bag of kale and a head of cabbage. How lucky am I to have friends who grow things and better yet share! I missed the superfood kale craze and the subsequent celebration of gluten substitute cauliflower. I suppose better late then never. Here is my belated homage to kale, thanks to Meg.

This salad recipe is a lesser version of a recipe posted on https://tastespace.wordpress.com/2012/01/02/raw-asian-kale-and-edamame-salad/

Didn’t feel like chopping garlic, so didn’t add any ( sorry if I’ve offended garlic lovers out there), next time I’ll add it, promise. Added a few red chili flakes. Had about 2 1/2 cups of shredded kale, instead of five that the recipe asks for. Despite my inauthentic recipe, I have to say, the salad is refreshing, bright and tasty. This is probably one of the few salads (that does not include jello) that tastes better as it sits and marinates. This was my first time making kale, in any way, ever. Kale, with its aggressive curls and fringes, does not like to be sliced or shredded. I had to fight it’s strong resistance to lie down flat. Respect. I had to take out the angry middle vein of each leaf. Also, it needed an extra loving wash able to flush all the curls. The recipe will tell you to “massage” the leaves for three minutes. For a superfood, it sure needs a lot of attention and pampering! I hope to absorb it’s unwieldy fringy flair (I already have the need for pampering massages).

Otherwise, easy and worth the three minute massage. I’ll have to try a cooked kale recipe but I suspect I’ll like this salad version the best. Happy to hear your favorite kale recipes and suggestions.

Wishing you all generous gardener friends like Meg,

Hungryphil