Recipe Reprise - Kale and Cabbage Gratin

A reader recently posted a comment that she ate kale for the first time in her life with this Kale and Cabbage Gratin recipe, even though she has been a life-long vegetarian. In fact, she's so smitten with this dish that she says she is going to make it weekly! I think I could eat it weekly also, and she inspired me to run to the Farmers' Market this afternoon to buy some cabbage plus some more kale since I did not think I had enough to make the full recipe.

I made a few changes from the original recipe:
1) I used much more kale this time even though I did not weigh it. I also used Red Russian kale instead of the Lacinato kale and did cut off a good 1-2 inches of thick stems from the bottom of each leaf. Otherwise, I just cut in horizontally into narrow strips.
2) I grated a large carrot into the vegetable mixture - I could have used two carrots!
3) I use a savoy cabbage, which was very sweet and mild
4) I added 1/4 cup of coarsely ground flaxseed to the 1/4 cup of whole wheat bread crumbs to cover the top
5) I did not have any feta cheese but I did have some sharp cheddar that my husband bought last weekend at a farmers' market in Lafayette, IN, that was USDA organic from 100% grass-fed dairy cows and not dyed orange - yum, yum, yum, just the best!!!
6) I already had brown rice cooked and in the refrigerator, knowing it would get used somehow this week. 
7) I used a large 9x13 dish, similar to what I would use to make a full recipe of lasagna.
8) I doubled the amount of garlic, especially in view of my recent post about the beneficial increased anti-cancer effects from the garlic-kale food combination. :-)

Using modifications of your own, I think this Kale and Cabbage Gratin could easily be a 'weekly recipe'.

 (Photo: Full recipe of Kale-Cabbage Gratin, not cooked yet)

(Photo: Close-up of Kale-Cabbage Gratin before I added the bread crumbs and flaxseeds)

Plenty for supper (with whole grain bread and our homemade wild grape-applesauce) and plenty for lunch left-overs, too. 

Where kale (and other Brassicas plus garlic) is more than decoration on my plate!

Diana Dyer, MS, RD