Bring on the Kale!

I never paid attention to kale until a couple years ago. It suffered from"guilt by association" because it was a little too close to Swiss chard, and my childhood memories of Swiss chard were not happy ones.  I think my Irish grandmother used to boil the heck out of it, until it lost all of its flavor (and color).  But a couple years ago I was introduced to homemade kale chips, and I decided to give kale a second look.


If you're not very familiar with kale, take advantage of it in these coming winter months when it's at its best and sweetest.  Kale is full of B vitamins, C, E, K, beta-carotene, iron, calcium, zinc and fiber.  It's one of the best immunity-boosting vegetables around, but it gets better than that....it helps protect your eyes, lungs, and skin and boosts brain power, memory and energy.  What more could you ask for  in a veg???


I love to stir fry it, mix it into soups and chili, roast it sprinkled with smoked paprika for tasty, crunchy chips, or "massage" the leaves with olive oil and salt to wilt them for a new twist on your usual salad.

But my latest kale creation is.....LASAGNA!

One note: alternative lasagna noodles are not as readily available as "enriched pasta" noodles, and I must confess that I used Barilla No-Boil Lasagna Noodles for this recipe test, but you can find gluten-free noodles on Amazon, and I intend to play with this recipe some more using some of the ones they offer. 

I started out by sauteeing mushrooms and onions. 

When softened, I added a couple cloves of garlic and the kale, and continued to saute until the kale wilts.

When done, pull the skillet off the heat and let it cool slightly.  Meanwhile mix ricotta with a teaspoon each of dried basil and organo in a bowl. Next is the marinara sauce...to make things easy, I recommend Trader Joe's Tomato-Basil Sauce; it has all natural ingredients (and very few), and it tastes great.  If you would like to make your own marinara sauce, it's super easy, and you can finds lots of recipes online.

Cover the bottom of your 8X8 pan with a thin layer of sauce, then 2 lasagna noodles.  Cover with half the ricotta mixture, and half the mushroom/kale mixture and 1/3 cup of sauce.  Top with another 2 noodles, the rest of the cheese and kale and 2 more noodles.  Top with remaining sauce and 1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese. 

Bake uncovered in a 400 degree oven for 35-45 minutes until bubbly and heated through.

And then try not to eat the whole thing!