My method of freezing prep might short-cut what a person experienced in food preservation would do. But, my intention with freezing kale is to keep it for a week; to make it easy to grab some kale that is ready-to-go into the saute pan or salad bowl.
Washing kale - yes, need to do. Wash the whole leaves. Shake off excess. Rip up kale leaves into bite size pieces. Use salad spinner to further dry the leaves.
Should one blanch the leaves? You can, but you don't have to. I blanched one bag of kale and didn't blanch the rest. I found that the blanched leaves were a brighter green, even after freezing, but to me, no difference in flavor. At least in the recipe I used the kale in.Whether blanched or just spun in the salad spinner, I further dried off the leaves by rolling them up in several 
sheets of paper towel, and gently squashed to get droplets of water off the leaves.After washing, ripping, optional blanching, drying, I measured a packed Cup - weighed out to around 55 grams. This is packed like you'd pack brown sugar for a baking recipe. Stuff the leaves in there.Then place this packed cup of leaves into a ziploc bag and toss in the freezer. When ready to use, the kale thaws out almost immediately, just sitting on the cutting board awaiting use in a saute pan. I haven't tried the frozen kale in a salad yet.I used frozen kale in my dinner last night. Worked perfectly. The recipe was a re-do of Wednesday and Thursday's Toful and Kale experiments. I used up the leftover tofu scramble, corn, diced tomatoes, and fake meatballs. I didn't post the recipe since it was so much like the other two.
Freezing kale rates a
5 on the Kale Scale for ease of use!
My method of freezing prep might short-cut what a person experienced in food preservation would do. But, my intention with freezing kale is to keep it for a week; to make it easy to grab some kale that is ready-to-go into the saute pan or salad bowl.
sheets of paper towel, and gently squashed to get droplets of water off the leaves.
