Kale

What is it and what do I do with it?

This headless, leafy green trendy super food is part of the brassica family. There are many varieties ranging from the smooth leafed cavalo nero to the Scottish curly leaf. The list of vitamins, minerals, and anti-oxidants seem never ending. In short, one cup averages over 400% of the RDA in Vitamins A, C, and K. It is high in B-complex, carotene, calcium, manganese, iron, and potassium. This is also an item that craves creativity. Common ways to eat it raw include salads, massaged with oil, and blended in smoothies. It can be sauteed, added to soups, and stews, cooked with eggs at breakfast, and baked as chips.

Please contribute your creative uses for kale in the comments below. Our hope is we can put together a list of 101 ways to eat kale!

Storage

Kale should always be refrigerated in high humidity and best placed in a vase with the ribs submerged in water. Typically the leaves will keep up to one week, but like broccoli the nutrient density decreases rapidly.

Preparation

As with all vegetables it should be washed thoroughly. Aphids, common in organic growing, may be found on the underside of the leaves and wash off easily. The rib should be removed by pinching at the base of the rib and pulling upward or by folding in half and slicing along the rib with a paring knife. From there the leaves can be easily torn. (Torn is always better than cutting as it does not bruise the leaf.) When cooked, cut the bottom section of the rib and chop it to desired size.

Recipes

[catlist name=”Recipes” tags=”kale” orderby=title order=asc numberposts=-1]