Eggy, I use kale as...

Eggy, Kale in our house, is a vegetable that is cooked together (in the same pan) with potatoes, then mashed with a little butter and milk. In our Dutch household, it is called, "boerenkool", and is part of a whole family of "stampot" meals. Other stampot meals include cut-up swiss chard and potatoes, sauerkraut and potatoes, carrots,onions) and potatoes, and one of my friends uses a combo of onions, hamburger and potatoes. Most "stampot" meals are served with metworst, ham sausage or a garlic sausage, but sometimes when I haven't a sausage handy I'll just serve it with a fried egg on top, AND pickles...pickled onions are really good with this. This is a quick and easy meal. It usually tastes better with potatoes that are not just fresh from the garden, though I don't know why.

I don't grow my own kale, but have heard that it is better picked after frost has come. I once picked it at a friend's and to save time washing it carefully... (it's very curly), I threw it all in my automatic washer and put it on a wash cycle. (Don't laugh, I also do this with my carrots...works great!) By the time the cycle was finished, I didn't even have to cut it up. (Carrots still do) All I did was bag it, and THEN, of course I had to clean out my machine.

Just thought I'd share that. :-)

The idea of Kale in mushroom soup sounds like a neat idea.