How did kale rise to power in the vegetable world and...

[Anonymous]

who the heck came up with the idea for chocolate covered kale chips?

Did kale farmers hire a PR person? My whole childhood I never heard of kale. Carrots, broccoli, corn and the occasional spinach were the vegetables we saw most often at dinner.

Don't get me wrong...I do enjoy nacho style kale chips and I know kale is healthy...like so many other vegtables. I just wonder how kale rose to power and I don't think there will ever be a story about such a thing on say 60 minutes...or at least not without Andy Roony doing his comentary. And...why kale? I know it is anti-inflammatory, but many vegtables are like collard greens.

And what will be next....carmel covered radishes? Perhaps chocolate covered yukka and nacho style squash? OK terra chips have been popular for a while, but kale has risen to the top. I know...whatever gets people eating more vegatbles if good for society..but I prefer to wonder about these things than obsess about and face real stressors...

[Anonymous]

I wonder that too. I tried kale and can't stand it. I had heard of it when I was a teen just out of high school and working in a convalescent home to see if I wanted to go into nursing. (no.) They served kale there and I thought it looked like something you put in your flower bed to take up space. I didn't try it until a few months ago. I really wanted to like it but sadly, it just wasn't meant to be.

When I was a kid (born in the mid 70's) my mom served peas, green beans, beets, iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, cukes etc. In the summer we had a big garden so I've always eaten and liked vegetables but weirdly I never saw or ate broccoli or cauliflower until I was about 12 or 13 and I loved it. I felt totally gyped out of many years of cruciferous vegetable eating. a few years ago I ranted about that to my sister who is 10 yrs older than me and she said broccoli and cauliflower weren't really popular in the 70's and early 80's. I think the farmers who need to sell that stuff hire PR people and spread the word. A few years ago the darling of the vegetable kingdom was soy beans, now kale. I wonder what poor underutilized vegetable will be the grocery store darling next? I hope it's beets. I love those and they have an unnecessarily bad reputation for no reason.

[Anonymous]

Beets rock...beet carrot juice is like healthy coffee. My only problem with beets is they stain things. Not a great food to let your toddler throw about. Yes, I forgot peas, green beans and cukes..and how could I forget good old potatoes-rarely sweet potato though. We actually had broccoli often (and I liked it!), but cauliflower entered the scene when I was middle school age and mostly my mom just ate it in salads.I think we are the same generation.

I think yukka is on the rise..I venture to say yukka is the next potato...

[Anonymous]

Ugh. I love kale ... as kale. But chocolate-covered kale sounds nasty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ugh. I love kale ... as kale. But chocolate-covered kale sounds nasty.

I tried it. It was both nasty and strangly addictive. I didn't like it at first, but it grew on me. I told my kids it was a chocolate treat and they enjoyed it from the start until my reader found the bag.

[Anonymous]

So are you saying kale is the new pomegranate? (spelling?) remember when "poms" were everywhere?

brussel sprouts have experienced quite the renaissance too, in foodie circles.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So are you saying kale is the new pomegranate? (spelling?) remember when "poms" were everywhere?

brussel sprouts have experienced quite the renaissance too, in foodie circles.

Yes & Yes!

[Anonymous]

choclate covered yucca? YUM! bring on the carbs

[Anonymous]

For us, it was the CSAs. If you don't eat kale, you won't get your money's worth out of most CSAs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So are you saying kale is the new pomegranate? (spelling?) remember when "poms" were everywhere?

brussel sprouts have experienced quite the renaissance too, in foodie circles.

Somebody should call The New Yorker. They seem to write long, interesting articles about the rise and fall of these odd food crazes:

PomWonderful: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/03/31/080331fa_fact_fortini

(If I remember, the couple behind PomWonderful is a little shady. Didn't the FTC investigate/challenge some of the health claims they marketed?)

Acai: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/05/30/110530fa_fact_colapinto

[Anonymous]

Kale is extremely easy to grow, and is very healthful to eat.

Baby kale, lightly braised or sautéed, is delicious! Old, woody kale is bitter and horrible.

[Anonymous]

Recipe for nacho style kale chips, please?

[Anonymous]

I like kale because it's cheap and tasty.

I have to eat it cooked, though. People rave about massaged kale salads but I made one and the bitterness was overwhelming. It disgusted me. Was it because I used curly kale?

[Anonymous]

First kale very quietly took out zucchini, almost overnight.

Then there was that "Vegetable Garden Putsch" in which carrots and beets were subdued and hustled off the menu without so much as a fare-thee-well.

Kale's menace was felt and a chill fell over the root vegetables. Kale was on its way to dominance.

In a well-maneuvered one-two, kale then convinced both soy sauce and olive oil to talk him up. Bingo, baby.

[Anonymous]

kale chips are a great substitute for salty snacks. Hungrygirl.com was where I first heard of it a few months ago, but this past week was my first time making them. They were pretty darn good, and 0 points...so I was happy!