Hail, Kale!

Mama likes to go out driving around a lot. She rides, I drive, and she looks at the clouds and whatever scenery the Gulf Coast plains can provide between strip malls and multi-level highway interchanges. A few days ago we took a ride out to Webster to enjoy the clouds and oleanders. We were also (of course) looking for some place to eat that might appeal to her appetite (chicken fingers). We settled on an Olive Garden. I was looking forward to the "never-ending" soup and salad.

We scoped out the menu, seeing all sorts of appetizing dishes. Mama would have enjoyed many of them, especially those with cream sauces, but "pasta" is one of those words she's lost. Now the dishes would all be "new" to her, and "new" can be scary. So I ordered from the appetizers for her: fried chicken fingers and zucchini with ranch dipping sauce. "Zucchini" is another lost word, but "green squash" and the promise that I put it in salads at home seemed an adequate explanation to allow her to give it a try.

For myself, I started with the salad and proceeded to the Tuscan soup. Delish! The soup, however, had an odd green leaf about half-submerged in the broth. It was crisp and bulky enough to need some chewing but quite tasty. I asked the waiter what it was. "Kale," he said.

Kale is so not an East Texas vegetable. At least it never showed up on any family tables where I ever dined. (Mama was unfamiliar with it, too, but that's another issue.) Not that I'd never heard of it. I was just never sure, unless I looked it up, whether kale was a leaf or a root or something else. Eventually I did see it in grocery stores, but I was never adventurous enough to pick some up to try at home.

Now, of course, I intend to do just that. As it turns out, kale is considered one of the "world's healthiest foods" and plays well with others foods in a number of recipes. I fully intend to try this recipe (or something like it) for curried lentils (with kale).