Kale Crazy

I have become obsessed with kale. It happened about a month ago and has taken over my diet. I literally cannot walk into a Whole Foods without leaving with bushels of kale. This is completely unexpected, as I refused to eat anything but iceberg lettuce for all of my teens (despite having no nutritional value I still maintain that its crispy, watery deliciousness). I think I have also adequately prefaced in this blog that I cannot cook (refer to the last cooking class in '10 that resulted in melted plastic, grease burns and food poisoning). Yet last week I made two intricate kale salads with homemade dressings! Perhaps I need to stick with raw foods?  

The first salad I made was the "detox" salad, with dinosaur kale, oranges, avocado and almonds. My second attempt was a passed on recipe of curly kale, pine nuts, cranberries and lemon vinaigrette  I went a little overboard with the lemon (insert pucker face here). But the first salad turned out pretty amazing if I do say so myself. I also made kale chips, which take about 15 minutes to make. Cut up some kale, toss it in olive oil and whatever seasoning you want, then cook on a baking sheet for 10-15 minutes. Considering kale chips are all the rage right now and sell for an outrageous $4+ per bag, just make your own. If I can do it, you can do it. Promise.

I also went on the hunt for the perfect restaurant kale salad. After some serious searching on Yelp it was clear that the top contender was the salad at Darwin Cafe in SOMA. It's one of those cute, hidden spots on a random side street that you would never even notice if it wasn't for the parklet outside. The cozy restaurant sits maybe 20 people max but allows for takeout. The sad thing is that it's only open weekdays from 8a-8p, so no hanging out there on the weekends. Their menu is seasonal, rotating fairly consistently. The one constant is their kale salad, the most popular dish. It's a pretty amazing mountain of a salad once it's set in front of you. There's a giant pile of kale, mixed with radicchio, lemon, prosciutto and garlic, tossed in balsamic and topped with a ton grated Parmesan cheese. It's definitely one of the most flavorful salads I've had in a while. If you like kale, you definitely need to stop by this place. I plan swinging by for takeout on a regular basis. If you eat-in, they also have a small but local selection of beer and wine.