How to Make Kale (& Other Leafy Greens) Taste Good

Kale. The Godfather of all dark leafy greens. You hear all about it. Know you should be eating more of it.

But you have a secret.

You don’t actually like it.

It’s okay! I still love you! The health world will still love you! Because really, you don’t hate it – you just need to know how to prepare it better. 🙂

Here’s my secret for making kale that ROCKS YOUR SOCKS OFF:

Sweeten it up a bit. (Tweet my secret!)

No matter how healthy you are, if you eat most of your meals outside your home you’re consuming tons of hidden sugars from places such as:

• Raspberry Vinaigrette Salad dressing – 2 tablespoons has 7 grams of sugar = almost 2 teaspoons
• Strawberry Chobani yogurt – 19 grams of sugar = 4 3/4 teaspoons

So in a nutshell, your taste buds are used to the sweet stuff. To keep with what your palette is used to, it’s okay to add a little bit of healthy sweetener when you’re just starting to eat your greens. After a while you’ll be loving the leafies and won’t need to add as much, or any at all!

Here’s what to do – regardless of what the recipe says go ahead and add 1 teaspoon of natural sweetener such as honey or maple syrup to the dish. You can put it right into the pan if you’re cooking the greens, or into the dressing if you’re serving them up salad style.

Want a recipe to start? This one is beyond delicious and sure to make a kale lover out of anybody:

Recipe: Butter Braised Kale (Yep, that says butter!)
Ingredients:
1 bunch curly kale, de-stemmed and chopped (watch this video on how to clean your greens)
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon honey (raw, local is best)
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper

Optional (add one or more of the following for extra flavor!): sesame seeds, garlic, lemon, nutritional yeast, kelp granules, tahini, onions

Directions:

Add butter to pan and allow to melt. Add your washed and chopped greens to the pan (leave a little bit of the water on the greens after cleaning them as it will aid in the cooking process) and cover with a lid.

Allow the greens to cook down and soften for 2 minutes. Add salt, pepper, honey and any other flavorings to the greens and mix. Replace lid and allow to cook for another 3-5 minutes (depending on how much kale you have).

You’ll know your butter braised kale is ready when the greens just begin to soften.

Remove from heat and serve!

Now go get your butter braising on! Be sure to take a picture and tag me @robynyoukilis and #yourhealthiestyou!