I like kale personally but I always disregard those trendy food nutrition stories. They're usually junk and honestly, unless you're getting rickets or something, who cares?

Yes, I'll ignore the kale just as I ignore the other overpriced, tasteless (or worse) "health food" fads. But a good deli, that I won't ignore.

I like kale too but loathe these foodies and their fads, which I just ignore.
I've also been drinking PBR for twenty years and I'm not gonna quit because some effete hipsters try to make it trendy.

I grow my own kale and other greens and they are more delicious than any storebought veggies. If you've never had home grown broccoli, collards, kale or turnips you have never tasted the full, hearty and delicious flavor of God's own natural health food.

The Germans have long prized kale (grünkohl) because it is one of the few leafy greens that will grow in the early winter snows. Here is the only civilized way to eat it:

Kale, Potato and Bacon Soup (Grünkohl, Kartoffel mit Speck Suppe) - An old Silesian recipe

2 lbs of kale, rinsed, woody stalks removed, chopped

2 onions, diced

2-3 lbs of potatoes (4-6), peeled and chopped into medium chunks

1/2 lb or more of thick sliced smoked bacon, chopped into medium (3/4") strips

1-2 Tblsps caraway seeds

2-4 Tblsps sugar

2-3 qts of broth, chicken or beef, commercial or homemade, or water, or a mixture of the two (I usually use 1 qt of commercial broth and 2 qts water)

1/3 cup apple cider vinegar, or more, to taste

Salt

Melt the bacon in a large soup pot over medium heat, and when enough fat has been rendered, add the onions and caraway seeds. Cook gently until the onions are soft, then add the chunked potatoes and stir them in the fat for a few minutes. Add the sugar and then the kale and stir until the leaves are just beginning to wilt, then add a good dose of salt, and the liquid.

Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for about an hour, or more, until the potatoes are soft and yielding and the kale cooked to tender rags.

Add the vinegar and adjust the seasonings, adding more salt, sugar or vinegar as your taste dictates. It is benenficial to remove the soup from the heat and let it sit for a few minutes before rendering your final verdict. The soup should have a mild sweet/sour flavor underpinned by the bacon's smokiness and the nuttiness of the caraway.

Ladle into a bowl, and top with a spoonful or two of sour cream, if desired. Coarse rye bread, if you can find it, is its natural companion.

Home grown Beet Greens! They're the best!

Damn, Metternich,that sounds good. I may try it.

That does sound good. I might have to have some of that, too.

Could you substitute broccoli or cauliflower, which are very similar to Kale botanically, but are more palatable (to me at least)?

Also I am not a huge vinegar fan. Could I pass on that or substitute lemon juice?

Seen in downtown Princeton, NJ, 10:00AM this morning.
Prius (of course), with 3 bumper stickers: Obama/Biden, Coexist, Eat More Kale.

My German mother made us Gruehnkohl 3 nights a week all winter. Same recipe as above, only mit wurst.

My wife bought a can of it last year to see if I still hated the stuff.

I do.

My Dear Fat Man:

You hardly need my permission to cook in any way your fancy moves you. Of course, if one removes the kale, then one no longer has kale soup.

Yikes! $80 per pound? Just out of curiosity, how does that compare to the price of marijuana in Seattle?

If there are health concerns with regards to eating kale (which I do not eat much), I hope they do not extend to the rest of the kale family of plants (which I do): broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, etc.

If you substitute cauliflower, add it to the soup no more than 15 or so minutes before serving. It will develop an unappetizing amount of sulphur flavor with long simmering.

Of course, if you are a member of the Obama Administration, sulphurous food is a feature, not a bug :)

Growing up in W. Va. kale and creasy greens were standard fare, hardly considered trendy at the time.

Not as good as the collards and turnip greens down south, but they grow better in the Appalachian climate apparently.

Two lizards that I had for many years loved kale.

Me, I love steak

Spinach. Good enough for Popeye, good enough for me.