"kale" news and stories

Kale usually brings to mind steaming bowls of Portuguese caldo verde -- the hearty soup that's spicy with chouriço and thick with potatoes and the greens that give it its name. Or a variation I love, with lentils and kielbasa (try this recipe, from Kitchen Daily). But just as you peg kale as all homey and comforting, the greens take a walk on the wild side in this lemonade, from a recipe by Natalia Rose in The Raw Foods Detox Diet.

Fuji apples, celery, lemon and ginger join kale in the blender to create a sweet-tart drink that's refreshing, incredibly healthy, and makes you feel like a superhero. Wonder Woman, we've given you notice. Your Lasso of Truth may have competition.

Become a member of the Slashfood Flickr pool for a shot of having your photos featured in Feast Your Eyes.

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• Visit Baltimore by way of Manhattan at Greenwich Village's Choptank.
• Some vintners painstakingly coax their grapes to greatness -- others take a Zen approach.
• Blue Bottle Coffee in Brooklyn: where coffee-making meets performance art.
• Speaking of art, here's a kale soup recipe straight from MoMA.

Every day we're bombarded with encouragement from nutritionists and health food experts to eat more leafy greens, especially the dark green varieties. Low in calories, high in fiber, packed with vitamin A, blah, blah, blah -- not exactly the kind of stuff you get excited about.

But Amy Hamberry may have found a way to change your mind: The Brooklyn, N.Y., mom is selling her own kale chips.

The former commercial illustrator and one-time kindergarten teacher stumbled into this new, unexpected profession when she married the owner of a neighborhood health-food store, New York Naturals.

The store's California kale chip supplier was always running out of stock (um, who would have guessed there was such high demand?), so Amy decided to start making them herself. It took three months of daily experiments before she was satisfied with the results.

"We had to figure out a consistency," Hamberry explained to Slashfood. "It was hard because the kale is different each time we get it. There are a lot of variables involved."

Vegetables just got a little bit more interesting as the first new vegetable to hit store shelves in nearly a decade is making its debut in the U.K., the Daily Mail reported.

A cross between Brussels sprouts and curly kale, the new vegetable -- called the flower sprout -- is a small purple-and-green sprout with curly leaves. (Frankly, from the photo in the Daily Mail, we think it looks a lot more like kale than the sprout, but that's just us.)

It will be sold at Marks & Spencer grocery stores in Britain starting Monday -- the first new veggie added to the roster since tenderstem broccoli came on the scene in 2002, the Mail reported.

Last night, I ate a light hearty savory Portuguese soup called Caldo Verde made with mashed onions, chorizo, and kale. The same soup is often made with collard greens instead of kale. Caldo Verde makes the perfect late night supper, because it's incredibly satisfying without overwhelming your stomach. Moreover, it's soothing.

There are several ways of making Caldo Verde. The one I ate last night had tomatoes and kidney beans, which are not in the traditional recipe. It can also include dried split peas. The soup tastes even more hearty with kielbasa, Polish sausage. This gorgeous green soup is a great way to stay warm and healthy during the winter time.

In Portugal, Caldo Verde is often eaten with slices of broa, a Portuguese type of cornbread. And, instead of using Spanish chorizo, they use Portuguese chouriço. The soup comes from the Minho region in northern Portugal, but it's popular all over the country and eaten during festivities, celebrations, and weddings. Keep reading to find a few different recipes for Caldo Verde.