In Search of the Holy Kale

This is a great time for these thoughts. Vegetables.

I know, I know, doesn't twang many of your chords, but hey, a lot of you get all excited at "baseball." That's in season, too, and a free ticket to the ball park does about as much for me as "kale chips" do for you.

Yeah. Kale chips. Turns out we have many and varied cultures in our country.
Apparently, kale chips have been around forever. I didn't know.

I am so ashamed. Technology? I'm not so hot. Veggies? Usually pretty good.

I know what kale is. I'm trying to welcome it into my life. It has so much calcium, and my body needs that.

I actually love spinach. Love the taste, the flavor, all the things you can do with it....I love broccoli--would you believe I have two grown sons who still eat the stuff? I love cabbage, seldom with fatback and never cooked till it is mushy white, but always still green when finished. (One of my sons came home from school one day after buying his lunch for a change. He said he understood why his friends hated cabbage because the whitish green stuff in the cafeteria was yucky." It's supposed to be green," he said with certainty. Such good taste, so young.)

Back to kale. I keep looking for recipes and trying them. It's okay, and I think a problem is I just haven't eaten enough. A younger friend says she makes a salad with fresh kale and cherry tomatoes with Italian dressing. Promising.

I like the recipe I found with long-grain rice and kale, half and half, with chicken broth and spices.

I really like it in vegetable soups.

But until today, hadn't heard of kale chips. Torn leaves, no stems, coated in coconut oil and sea salt. Baked at 325 degrees--about 10 minutes each side until crisp but still bright green. Sounds good. I do have issues.

I am not a fan of sweet potato fries, which so many love, but then, I only like baked sweet potatoes with no salt, black pepper and a little butter or margarine.

I may try these kale chips. My granddaughters, as tots, taught me to eat edemame, and fresh mangoes.

I remember one toddling up with a ripe mango and asking me to "turtle it." (cross-hatches on one side which then can be cut into individual bites.)

"Huh?" I replied then.

Now they sometimes humor me so we can go the yogurt place with mango yogurt and fresh, "turtled" mango slices to go on top. They can do this at home. But they know every now and then,

Grandma needs a treat.

Wonder if kale juice would be noticeable.