Preserving this iron-rich super food is one of the simpler preserving projects you’ll undertake in your kitchen. Thoroughly wash the leaves. You can freeze stems, which make a nice addition to soups and stir fries, but plan to do so separately from the leaves. Remove leaves from stems, roughly chop.
Blanch leaves for 2.5 minutes, covering the boiling water pot with a lid to steam-heat floating leaves. Blanch stems for 3 minutes. Place leaves and stems in ice water for the same amount of time. Use a strainer to fish leaves from both boiling and ice water.
Dry leaves on a towel and squeeze to remove excess water. Quick-freeze small clumps of kale individually on a cookie sheet, then seal in a larger bag if you want to use it later in small amounts. Otherwise, freeze in larger pre-measured amounts based on what you plan to make with it. When blanched, kale will last 8-12 months in the freezer, however, you must remove as much air as possible to prevent freezer burn.
You’ll be happy you have kale in the freezer this winter when you whip up a batch of creamy kale sausage soup!