Kale

The beautiful, hearty, dark leafy green known as kale is an amazing vegetable that some people have not formed a culinary relationship with. This relationship desperately needs to be cultivated as this member of the cabbage family is a highly nutritious, versatile, lovely, and delicious vegetable. Kale can be found in the vegetable section usually near other greens. You may see a few different varieties of kale such as curly kale (ruffled, deep green leaves), dinosaur kale (dark blue-green embossed leaves), or ornamental kale (green, purple, or white leaves). Each has a different taste and texture so experiment with all the varieties to see which one you like best. Kale is available year round although its main growing season is fall, winter and early spring. It is also easy to grow if you feel inclined to plant some in your garden (eat really local!!).

Kale is chock full of nutrients such as vitamin A, B, C, E, K, iron, potassium, manganese, magnesium, folic acid, and copper. It is also a great source of fiber, protein, omega-3 fatty acids, chlorophyll, and phytonutrients. Kale is known for its anti-cancer properties and for its excellent calcium supply.

When purchasing kale look for fresh looking leaves that have no signs of insect damage, yellowing or wilting. Store in the crisper section of your refrigerator, unwashed, in a perforated plastic bag or a damp towel. It will keep for several days if stored properly. When ready to consume, rinse off any dirt or buggies, dry, then chop as desired. You can eat the stems, but I prefer to cut them off by taking a knife and slicing the whole center stem off from top to bottom.

Kale can be enjoyed in a variety of ways such as raw in salads, cooked in soups, added to pasta or other dishes, sauteed, steamed, or even baked. Allrecipes.com has a lot of nice recipes including this one for Baked Kale Chips. http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Baked-Kale-Chips/Detail.aspx. Yes, it sounds odd so of course I had to try it out. You slice up the kale and drizzle olive oil, salt and pepper on it, then place the "chips" on a cookie sheet and bake. Amazingly they tasted yummy! They sort of melted in my mouth, but also had the crunchiness and saltiness of a potato chip. Kind of a fun side dish or snack.

Once again, I can not emphasize enough how amazingly nutritious this vegetable is, so I highly recommend adding it to your culinary repertoire. It really is beautiful and delicious too, and is super easy to cook. Most times I just lightly saute it with garlic, olive oil, red chili pepper flakes, salt, pepper, and sesame seeds, and toss it with some brown rice or quinoa. Makes me feel healthy and happy! Enjoy!

Please note: research has suggested to avoid raw kale if one has thyroid or kidney stones, so you may want to talk to your doctor about that.