Sorry to say it but your salads are probably boring but you can't blame the humble old meal itself, it's most definitely you. Choose a dressing that will balance the bitterness of the kale. acid in lemon counters the bitter flavor and helps to break down the leaves. It’s easily done by holding the bottom end of the stem with one hand and the leaf folded in half lengthwise along the stem in the other hand. Enter your email below. siteads.queue.push( {"site":"lifehacker","pagetype":"article","ad_type":"article","sec":"life","amp":false,"ctype":"article","article":"make kale less bitter by massaging and cutting itbefore you rinse","article-tags":["cooking","cooking hacks","food","food hacks","kale","leafy greens","salad","videos"],"native":["null"],"aggregate":["cooking","cooking hacks","food","food hacks","kale","leafy greens","salad","videos"],"pageID":["null"],"sub-sec":"","cat":"life","cat1":"","item":{"objectid":759730,"title":"Make Kale Less Bitter By Massaging And Cutting It\u00c2\u00a0Before You Rinse","text":"Kale and other leafy greens greatly benefit from a nice massage before you mix them in a salad. But if kale’s bitter flavor bothers your taste buds, you might want to change the usual order of operations. But if kale's bitter flavour bothers your taste buds, you might want to change the usual order of operations. You can also blanch it for about 30 seconds to not only kill the bitter flavour, but also get more calcium out of it.... which brings me to my second point: this idea of undoing its benefits by putting too much dressing on it is meaningless. siteads.queue.push( {"site":"lifehacker","pagetype":"article","ad_type":"article","sec":"life","amp":false,"ctype":"article","article":"make kale less bitter by massaging and cutting itbefore you rinse","article-tags":["cooking","cooking hacks","food","food hacks","kale","leafy greens","salad","videos"],"native":["null"],"aggregate":["cooking","cooking hacks","food","food hacks","kale","leafy greens","salad","videos"],"pageID":["null"],"sub-sec":"","cat":"life","cat1":"","item":{"objectid":759730,"title":"Make Kale Less Bitter By Massaging And Cutting It\u00c2\u00a0Before You Rinse","text":"Kale and other leafy greens greatly benefit from a nice massage before you mix them in a salad. Because kale is so bitter, you should pair it with an acidic dressing to even out the flavors, says Carbone. Its health benefits are its nutrients, and no amount of dressing will kill that. Click here to browse! Why? Now you won’t have to overdress your kale salad and undo any of the health benefits. The massaging helps soften up kale, but that and the cutting release a bunch of bitter compounds that don’t taste too great. But if you save the rinsing for later, you can wash away most of the bitter stuff that gets released. Why Massaging Your Kale Makes It Taste Better. But if kale's bitter flavour bothers your taste buds, you might want to change the usual order of operations. How do you make kale less bitter for salad? if (typeof siteads.queue !== 'undefined') { Why? While bitter green salads usually already contain a good amount of acid, adding a little acid at the end of a cooked bitter greens dish will also provide the same effect of brightening and bringing all the flavors in a dish together. }. Acids, like vinegar and citrus juice, help to brighten up bitter greens and provide a light contrasting flavor. Kale and other leafy greens greatly benefit from a nice massage before you mix them in a salad. In this video from the