Recipes

[beach-mom]

I want to make Ina Garten's winter slaw recipe, but DH and I are NOT fans of kale. Can anyone recommend a substitute? That's about the only "green" I don't like!  

[Queen of shop]

@beach-mom  Spinach, Swiss chard? I love broccoli rabe but it is an aquired taste that one.

[tessam]

My friend teases me that kale is a garnish not a food!  lol

Some substitutions:

1. Collard Greens
In terms of flavor and texture collard greens are the closest match to kale and can be used interchangeably.

2. English Spinach
The most common green, English spinach or spinach has a more green ‘spinachy’ flavor than kale. And the leaves are much more soft and delicate. However if you just want to add some cooked greens to a dish, spinach including defrosted frozen spinach is a good kale substitute.

3. Baby Spinach Leaves
If your recipes calls for raw kale or baby kale leaves, baby spinach is your best bet. The thing to note is baby spinach is more delicate so you won’t need to massage and probably won’t need as much dressing.

4. Swiss Chard / Rainbow Chard 
Similar to English Spinach the chard family is great in cooked kale recipes. The stems of chard are larger and stronger in flavour than kale stems so you may like to compost the stems or use for another dish. Or cook the stems separately – expect them to take longer than kale to soften.

Unless your chard is super young and tender, it will be too bitter to eat raw.

5. Mustard Greens
While these have a strong hot mustardy flavour when raw, once cooked they taste a lot like kale. Texturally similar too. And packed with nutrition!

Young mustard greens can be lovely raw if you like a little heat.

6. Chinese Broccoli

7. a firm cabbage

8. brussels sprouts

9. tatsoi

good luck!!

[beach-mom]

Thank you ladies! I love collard greens and chard both so I will try one of them! I'll let you know how it works!  

[Bhvbum]

just a note on collard greens they are a very heavy green that actually takes a long time to cook. I don't see eating this raw in a salad, unless the recipe is to be cooked. 

[Mmsfoxxie]

@beach-mom, I guess you've tried kale alone and don't like it?  Try it if you haven't.  I cooked some a couple of weeks ago with some smoked Turkey, onion, garlic and a couple of chicken bouillon cubes.  It was pretty good.  Of course, there was cornbread on the side.  I'm not southern but my roots are, lol.

[beach-mom]

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@Mmsfoxxie wrote:

@beach-mom, I guess you've tried kale alone and don't like it?  Try it if you haven't.  I cooked some a couple of weeks ago with some smoked Turkey, onion, garlic and a couple of chicken bouillon cubes.  It was pretty good.  Of course, there was cornbread on the side.  I'm not southern but my roots are, lol.

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Hi @Mmsfoxxie ! Your recipe sounds delicious! Maybe I'll try it again- maybe. Or I'll make it with other greens!

DH and I both don't like kale. I used it in salads when it first became popular and he asked me what the bitter taste in his salad was! I doused mine with blue cheese dressing. If we get a salad with kale in it out we always ask them to substitute. If we see on the menu it is kale only, we pass!

I make other greens, both in salads and cooked. Just can't handle kale. If I try it I'll let you know!   

[Mmsfoxxie]

@beach-mom, I'll admit I had to add a little sugar, lol.  When I was looking for Glory brand turnips, the only thing left was Kale.  So, being in a healthy state of mind (that day, lol), I bought them and was pleasantly surprised. 

[ECBG]

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@Bhvbum wrote:

just a note on collard greens they are a very heavy green that actually takes a long time to cook. I don't see eating this raw in a salad, unless the recipe is to be cooked. 

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@Bhvbum 

The only way I could see collards is if they were cut in very thin strips.

[JeanLouiseFinch]

Spinach is my go-to replacement for kale. There are many kinds of kale out there. The most common variety usually has that big fibrous stem that is unappealing and needs to be removed.  When buying kale by the bag, the processors don't do that so yiu get all those hard pieces.  For a tender, mild flavored kale, look for dinosaur/lacinto kale.  You'd have to go to a market with an expanded produce dept like Whole Foods.