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Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's Top Tips for Cooking Kale

Award-winning food expert and celebrity chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall answers another of our customer’s veggie problems – just how do you use up all the kale in your fridge?

Question: Kale please! We get too much in our veg box and although we love kale and chickpea curry, beyond that our range is quite limited.

Answer: There’s no such thing as too much kale! There, I’ve said it. It’s pretty fine just wilted and buttered, but it goes brilliantly with all alliums (the garlic and onion family), and I often find myself throwing a grated clove of garlic into a pan with a little butter, and tossing my just steamed kale in it for a couple of minutes before serving. And I love it in a 50;50 mix with leeks too. Just finely slice the well-washed leeks and sweat in butter or oil till nice and tender (about 10 mins) then stir in your lightly wilted roughly chopped kale and cook the two together for a couple of minutes. You can pep up this lovely combination with some chilli, ginger and soy if you like.

Kale leaves massaged with a little lime juice and soy can also be gently baked into kale crisps – about an hour and half at 120 C should do it (or longer in a dehydrator).

And raw kale can be 'massaged' into tangy tenderness with a pinch of salt and a splash of cider vinegar. It then lends itself to various combinations, like a vegetarian lasagne.

Don’t forget to pick up your veggies here!