Ms. Mirabile: “I AM kale.” (kitchen snap courtesy of family member, c. 2001)

Here is why I want to be a women’s columnist.

Because I eat kale.  I love kale.  I can introduce women to kale.

I am kale.

No, I don’t mean that last.  It turns out Kale is a character in a Y.A. romance, Touch by Jus Accardo, though.  (I tried to find quotes about kale and was sent to the Goodreads page.)

Here is the quote:

As long as I know this” – he lifted our joined hands – “is mine to hold, I’ll wait for you forever.”

Kale, kale, kale.  (But I mean the vegetable.)  I can’t quite get into the “romance” style.

I also discovered that Alanis Morissette loves kale.  “Kale is my best friend,” she told Runner’s World.

I biked to Whole Foods earlier this week and had a pleasurable experience examining vegetables.  Kale was the only local item, from a farm in Grinnell, so I made a point of buying it. I filled a huge knapsack and a bike pannier with vegetables and other items, and worried that my half gallon of soy milk might explode in the pannier on the way home.  (They didn’t sell quarts.)   Fortunately I got home, the milk unexploded.

Kale salad

But what does one do with kale? Do people in your family like kale?

They should eat kale.  According to WebMD, kale “is the queen of greens.”  One cup of kale has  9% of the daily value of calcium, 206% of vitamin A, 134% of vitamin C, and 684% of vitamin K, and is a source of minerals copper, potassium, iron, manganese, and phosphorus.

It tastes good, too.

I’ve had a long, good relationship with a recipe for a kale sandwich on a baguette  (Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites: Flavorful Recipes for Healthful Meals by the Moosewood Collective).

Everyone, given the opportunity, will eat this sandwich every night.  You can serve it while they’re watching football.  You know those guys who live for football?  They won’t bat an eye at this sandwich with kale, tomatoes, roasted red peppers, onion, and more.  It’s better than corned beef.

But I needed a new kale recipe.

And so I found an easy kale salad at allrecipes.com.

It is a delicious salad, with kale, tomatoes, dried cranberries, and roasted sunflower seeds, but be sure to add the dressing after you mix the other ingredients.  I dumped the kale, etc., in the dressing, according to the directions, and there was way too much dressing.

So next time I’ll know.

Here’s the recipe:

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 bunch kale, cut into bite-size pieces
1 large tomato, seeded and diced
1/2 cup roasted sunflower seeds
1/2 cup dried cranberries

DIRECTIONS:
1.    Whisk lemon juice, canola oil, olive oil, sugar, salt, and black pepper in a large bowl. Add kale, tomato, sunflower seeds, and cranberries; toss to combine.

That’s it!