“What are you going to blog about today?”

“You could do a review of Steak & Shake.”*

“Nyah, I’m going to write about massaged kale.”

“Kale?”

Yep, kale. Everyone’s favorite hipster vegetable, for mockery if nothing else. I like kale! Though it did take me a decade or two to get there. My kids, like many kids who were toddlers in the last decade, have eaten their share of kale chips. I particularly like massaged kale, which I learned from reading The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved by Sandor Katz**.

Here are the basics.

Massaged Kale

• 1 bunch kale, any type
• vinegar, oil, salt, maybe honey, other things you might put on a salad

Wash and stem the kale, then cut into very thin, short strips (as thin as you can make them without stressing about it). I do this by stacking the leaves and then cutting across, as thinly as possible. Pile it in a bowl. Add a splash or two of a good vinegar*** and a hearty pinch of salt. 

Now the fun part: squeeze the kale with the salt and vinegar. Squeeze it a lot. Squeeze it a bit more. It should shrink by at least one half. Once it is pretty wet and bright, bright green and much, much smaller, you are done squeezing. It may be hard to get the shreds off your fingers. Add a splash of good olive oil**** and maybe some honey. Stir with a fork, then taste. Add whatever else you like*****. Serve like salad (because it is one).

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*actually, Steak & Shake is a pretty great place to go with a party of 12 relatives, after post-holiday go-karting.

**I also like reading Sandor Katz.

***cider! or agro-dolce! or rice! or what have you

****or whatever you like!

*****I like diced apple and toasted walnuts. Something sweet is often good, particularly if you didn’t add the honey.