Weekend Cooking; Kale, Oh so much Kale

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Last week when I had dinner with my mother we did another vegetable exchange.  She'd understood from my last post that I wanted more rhubarb. I don't know what gave her that idea?? Luckily she can read so she transferred over a large bag of rhubarb as well as a garbage-sized bag of kale, and smaller bags of spinach, basil, and several dozen eggs!  It is worth the 40 minute drive I tell you.

Kale is very high in beta carotene, Vitamin K, Vitamin C and calcium.  A lot like spinach even though it is closer to the cabbage family.  I love both of these green leafy plants but can only have them in small doses. The Vitamin K interacts with the blood thinner I am required to take forever.  Because I had 4 large bundles (and I gave two away to my friend Patty for juicing purposes) I had to find some way to preserve mine.

Did you know you can freeze kale?  Yes, yes you can. How perfect to freeze medium-sized bags of these and then whip them out in the middle of winter to create a yummy soup or a smoothie.  Whatever your heart desires!  I froze two bundles and made pesto out of the other two.  Kale and I are friends again.  I'm going to try the same with spinach.

Julie A. Martens shares her tips on freezing kale in this helpful HGTV article.  She sounds very smart and garden-happy.  I found this kale pesto recipe here at Bon Appetite.  It was easy to through together and tasted good. I made two batches and we ate one last night with gluten-free pasta and the rest I'm going to use for a book club recipe. Book club meets at my house on Monday.  I should be cleaning ALL weekend long to get my house in shape but I'm not. I'm racing off to Indiana to help my friend Barb out at her bakery for Strawberry Madness.

Post Note: I just finished reading Ashfall by Mike Mullins (good not fantastic) which kale plays a part in so if you want to survive a terrible disaster in the future learn to eat your kale or better yet plant some in your backyard.

This post is linked to Beth Fish Reads weekend cooking meme.  Click her link to find many other food-related posts.