Spicie Foodie ™

Healthy, Fresh, and Delicious Recipes to Spice up Your Kitchen ™

  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • My Books
    • Yummy Pics, Food Photography for Bloggers
    • An Epiphany of the Senses Cookbook
    • Foodista Best of Food Blogs Cookbook
  • Press
  • Photography
    • Tutorials
    • Food Photography Gear
  • Faves
  • YBR
  • Store
  • Copyright
  • Sponsor

Why You Should Be Massaging Kale

August 23, 2015 by Nancy Lopez-McHugh

Why You Should Be Massaging #Kale by @SpicieFoodie

Put some music on, pour yourself a big glass of wine, grab the oil, and get ready to give your fingers a workout…Now, now, get your mind out of the gutter, and don’t forget to reach for the kale.

A sentence with the words “massage” and “kale” sounds a bit strange, doesn’t it? Why would one need to give a vegetable a massage? Simply put, it makes all the difference. Kale, as you already know, is a thick, tough and fibrous leafy green; If you take fresh pieces of kale and toss them into whatever it is that you’re cooking, kale will take a very, very long time to soften and wilt. And if the kale is going to be a part of a raw salad, well you’ll have tough and slightly bitter kale to chew. It’s not really a knock on kale, I quite enjoy it both raw and cooked. But often times it is my jaw that gets sore from chewing and chewing on raw or undercooked kale. This is when giving kale a rubdown really helps.

Why You Should Be Massaging #Kale by @SpicieFoodie

When we massage kale it helps break down the toughness and it release a sweetness in the leaves. The process is quite simple and doesn’t take more than a few minutes. All you do is use your fingers to work the kale bits until you have softer, shinier, tender and sweet pieces of kale. You’ll notice that the kale is reduced in volume and it’s colour intensify. Take a taste and immediately you’ll notice how much easier it is to chew, the softness, and the missing tartness that kale usually has. Many people like to drizzle a bit of oil over the kale before commencing the rubdown, but it really depends how you’ll be using the kale. If you’re going to be using it in a smoothie, I really recommend the massage without the oil. When tossing the kale into salads, soups, stews, or lightly sautéed with garlic, then it’s perfectly fine to use oil.

Why You Should Be Massaging #Kale by @SpicieFoodie

Kale is so insanely nutritious and lately we’ve been really enjoying it both lightly sautéed as a side dish, and as part of refreshing summer salads. The photos here are of my current favourite summer kale salad, and the recipe is one that I published on my Spicy Food column; it is simply titled “Massaged Kale Salad with Strawberries and Red Pepper.” Head over to get the recipe, thank you and enjoy!

Why You Should Be Massaging #Kale by @SpicieFoodie

P.S.
Check out the delicious summer salad roundup below!
Why You Should Be Massaging #Kale by @SpicieFoodie

Filed Under: Salads, Vegan/Vegetarian, Vegetables

« Smokey Grilled Chicken Salad (For When You Don’t Really Feel Like Cooking)
Sunday Snapshots: Eight Pictures of The Beach »

Comments

  1. Rosa says

    August 24, 2015 at 09:07

    An interesting post! This kale salad looks delicious.

    Cheers,

    Rosa

    • Spicie Foodie says

      August 24, 2015 at 20:07

      Thank you, Rosa!

  2. Sandra says

    August 24, 2015 at 09:30

    That is one beautiful picture and if a salad could be sexy this would be it!

    • Spicie Foodie says

      August 24, 2015 at 20:07

      Hehe, thank you Sandra!

  3. anna@icyvioletskitchen says

    August 29, 2015 at 23:37

    yes! yes! my husband hates kale, or thought he did until we went to this nice restaurant and i really wanted the kale salad. it came with freekeh and pomegranate seeds and other delicious things, and he was like ‘what did they DO to this KALE!’ he loved it. the kale had definitely been massaged.

    • Spicie Foodie says

      August 30, 2015 at 13:31

      Hehe, that’s great that he loves it now — that means kale at home, Anna! My husband liked the taste from the beginning but it when eating it raw it was the toughness that he disliked.

  4. mjskitchen says

    September 6, 2015 at 22:29

    Had a massaged kale salad with peaches just last night. So good! Fabulous photos Nancy!

    • Spicie Foodie says

      September 6, 2015 at 22:30

      Yum! We just don’t get good peaches here, but now I’m thinking about that combination. Thank you MJ!

Let’s Connect

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Cooking Videos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXes5qwtAuk

Learn Food Photography From Me

Yummy Pics: A Food Blogger's Guide to Better Photos, Photography eBook by Spicie Foodie

My Foodie Prose

Search Spicie Foodie

Categories

Recommended Books

   

Official Blogger

Official Meatless Monday Blogger

cool kitchen gadgets

cool kitchen gadgets

Free Photography Tutorials

Food Photography, Tutorials,Spicie Foodie, spicy food,how to photograph food, food blogger photography, shooting food, artificial light, natural light

Super Deals!

Help support Spicie Foodie by placing your Amazon purchases through the banner link. Thank you for your support!  

As Seen On

Cooking Videos for Your Website

Recipe Video Services

Deprecated: genesis_footer_creds_text is deprecated since version 3.1.0! Use genesis_pre_get_option_footer_text instead. This filter is no longer supported. You can now modify your footer text using the Theme Settings. in /home/spiciefo/public_html/wp-includes/functions.php on line 5094

Copyright © 2009 - 2023 · Nancy Lopez-McHugh and Spicie Foodie | Theme by Restored 316

Copyright © 2023 · Tasteful Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in