Nurturing my inner... cooking with my hands

A friend of mine dropped me an email yesterday inviting me to come over and "do a little cooking with her."  Magic words as they are, which promise the ultimate pay off of some yummies, I was in!  Plus, I was working off of someone else's recipe, so I didn't have to bring a lot of brain power to the project after a work day.  Sometimes it's relaxing to follow a semi-professional who has already done it right.

She had watched a series on tv that picked the next tv chef for a show.  And the winner, Aarti, had some recipes that caught her eye.  The night before, she made the main dish, so that was ready to go.  But the side dish really intrigued her and she knew I'd be a go for it, as I am for really anything. And likely her husband who was out of town that night would not be a go.  (BTW, I'm perfectly okay with someone else's disinterest bumping me up from lower on the list to the new number one choice!)

Massaged Kale Salad.  Weird, right?  Since when does your dinner get to go to a spa.  (Heck, I don't get to go to a spa.)  Kale has been on my list of "ingredients I need to learn to cook with" though and its deep green leaves are vitaminarific, so no time like the present.  Short ingredient list didn't hurt either.

I washed the leaves and she cut them into ribbons.  Then she tossed them into a bowl with part of the dressing and said to me, "Have at it."  Uh, excuse me?  I have to really do this... with my hands?  You were serious about the massaging part?  I thought this was why forks and spoons were invented, so we could be a step above cavewomen.  (Shall I be skinning a saber-toothed tiger to make my apron next?  Wait, I may not want to know the answer.)  Thanks to the wonders of DVR, we darted into the living room for a quick tutorial from the chef herself so I could experience the weightiness of the truth that I was about to be giving my side dish a back rub. 

Here is the recipe from foodtv.com http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/aarti-sequeira/massaged-kale-salad-recipe/index.html as well as below, only those are my pictures.  (Did you really think I wouldn't document this pictorally?):

Massaged Kale Salad

1 bunch kale (black kale is especially good), stalks removed and discarded, leaves thinly sliced
1 lemon, juiced
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
Kosher salt
2 teaspoons honey
Freshly ground black pepper
1 mango, diced small (about 1 cup)
Small handful toasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds), about 2 rounded tablespoons


Directions:
In large serving bowl, add the kale, half of lemon juice, a drizzle of oil and a little kosher salt. Massage until the kale starts to soften and wilt, 2 to 3 minutes. Set aside while you make the dressing.

Call me "Helga" administering the spa treatment
to the kale. It's okay to get your hands dirty.
Don't listen to your mother.

In a small bowl, whisk remaining lemon juice with the honey and lots of freshly ground black pepper. Stream in the 1/4 cup of oil while whisking until a dressing forms, and you like how it tastes.

Pour the dressing over the kale, and add the mango and pepitas. Toss and serve.

On a white plate for dramtic purposes.

It was really good!  I never expected the flavors to work so well together and be out of the predictable range.  The kale, that I had no idea could be eaten raw as I've mostly had it in soup with potato and sausage, sort of loses its tension with the massaging.  Just like we do.  (To put back into normal vegetable terms, it wilts and softens.  But that sounded SO boring.)  The floral honey combined with the acid of the lemon was a perfect match for the just slightly bitter kale with the sweet mango.  By the way, my friend didn't have pepitas, so we toasted my favorite cooking nut, the pignoli.  Worked just as well.  Along with Aarti's kale salad, I got to try her Sloppy Bombay Joes which was a nice twist of Indian flavor added to an American lunchroom favorite.  I recommend both.

Cooking with your hands seemed to have been taught to my grandmother, but did a genetic catapult over my mother.  I haven't exactly been used to getting so intimate with my meals either.  However, I'm glad I did.  I think it offered a certain sense of freedom I don't normally engage in.  There really is nothing to be afraid of.  Cooking should not be a sterile experience.  (Well, in the germ free sense yes, in the boring sense, no.)  Think back to your days of clay projects in art class.  I doubt anyone had to hold you back then from jumping right in with both hands!

Well, we can't be Shakespeare and Giada every night.  So, hope this is enough rah-rahing to get you to try this.