Kale! (eats your greens, but not spinach!

nimh · Aug 26, 2006

kale, beautiful green, growing all winterlong. sweetened by the frost and so chockfull of nutrients. a lovely addition to hearty winter soups

honeyhannah · Aug 26, 2006

I love kale, it's lovely in a cucumber/celery juice too, and it can be great in salads if you salt rub and let it moisten.

I love spinach too.

tigerlily · Aug 26, 2006

wait, why not spinach?

nimh · Aug 26, 2006

oxalic acid, it's an antinutrient that abounds in spinach. kale is better. a little bit of spinach now and then isnt gonna kill you but there are better options like kale when it comes to the green leafies.

In praise of kale: why this humble green deserves a place at your dinner table

Cathe Olson Whenever I give a seminar on healthy eating, I can't help but talk about kale. As soon as I mention that it's my favorite vegetable I get a variety of responses, from incredulity to bewilderment. "Kale? Isn't that the stuff decorating the salad bar at Hometown Buffet?" a parent asked at one class. What makes me really sad is that one leaf of kale packs more nutrition than the heaping bowl of iceberg lettuce it surrounds.

Just about any book or article on nutrition recommends that we eat leafy green vegetables. Yoga dietetics suggest greens every day for optimum health, and kale is one of the most nourishing. Unlike spinach or chard, it doesn't contain oxalic acid, which prevents the body from absorbing calcium. It is also the green richest in the phytochemical lutein. Known mostly for its prevention of eye disease, lutein is now thought to be better protection against cancer than beta-carotene. Kale is also one of the highest sources of antioxidant flavonoids, which help ward off heart disease and regulate blood pressure. Kale is a good source of calcium, iron, magnesium, vitamins A and C, and dietary fiber.

Kale has many benefits for women. It helps regulate estrogen and wards off many forms of cancer, including breast cancer. The calcium in kale is more easily absorbed than the calcium in milk, so it helps protect against osteoporosis, arthritis, and bone loss. Before and during pregnancy, kale supplies important minerals such as calcium and iron. It also provides folic acid, which is necessary for the proper development of the baby's nervous system. During nursing, kale and other leafy greens increase the milk supply.

Children grow and develop at a rapid rate, and their proper nutrition is vital. Kale is extremely rich in vitamin A--essential for visual and immune functions. One cup of chopped, cooked kale has almost as much vitamin C as an orange and as much calcium as 1/3 cup of milk.

With all these benefits, why doesn't everyone eat kale?

Many people don't know what kale looks like or how to select it. They don't know how to store kale, so it goes bad before they have a chance to eat it. Most disappointing is when they take the time to buy and cook kale and no one likes it.

Following are some easy ways to select, store, and prepare kale. If your family still won't eat it, I'll share tips for adding kale in ways that no one will notice to dishes you already eat.

SELECTION

Kale is available year-round but is especially good in the winter, when the cold makes it sweeter. Kale comes in bunches of long, dark green leaves. The most common variety is curly-leaf kale, which is curly around the edges. I prefer the smoother varieties, such as "dinosaur" or "red Russian," because they are mellower when lightly steamed or added to a stir-fry.

At your natural foods store or supermarket, buy kale that is kept in a chilled display case or on ice. Kale will wilt and become bitter if left in a warm place for a long period of time.

Look for fresh, green leaves--they should not be yellow, brown, or wilted. Choose smaller, more tender leaves over larger, coarser ones. In spring and summer, get some young kale at your farmers' market that can be tossed raw into salads--or grow it yourself.

STORAGE

Place unwashed kale in a plastic bag and keep it in the vegetable crisper of your refrigerator for up to a week. Bear in mind, however, that kale's taste grows stronger the longer you store it. For extended preservation, wash and dry kale well (see method below). Mince or chop kale by hand or in a food processor, then place in a bag or container and freeze. Because it thaws almost instantly, minced, frozen kale can be used just like raw kale.

PREPARATION

Even organic kale should be washed, as dirt or grit may be stuck to the leaves. The easiest way is to fill your sink or a basin with cold water and swish the kale around. Remove the kale and drain. Repeat if necessary until the kale is clean.

Break or cut off tough stems. Curly-leaf kale may have a thick midrib (the stem extending up the leaf) that you'll want to remove. Fold the leaf in half lengthwise, vein side out, and slice down the length of the rib with a sharp knife. Smaller leaves and smooth varieties have thin ribs that can be chopped, cooked, and eaten with the leaves.

Kale can be steamed, blanched, boiled, braised, stir-fried, or sauteed. It doesn't need to be cooked long--just until it's wilted and tender. Five to 15 minutes is usually enough, depending on how finely you chop it and how thick the leaves are. Kale cooks down significantly. Figure about two cups of cooked kale for every pound of the raw vegetable.

Kale is delicious seasoned with brown-rice or umeboshi vinegar, natural soy sauce, tamari, or toasted sesame oil. I love kale in a stir-fry or tossed with pasta, minced garlic, and olive oil. Kale can be substituted for spinach or cabbage in most dishes. Try chopped kale in lasagna. It's delicious!

KID-FRIENDLY KALE

Most kids and many adults don't like kale's chewy texture. Don't despair-they can still eat their kale and like it too. Here's my secret of getting my family to eat lots of kale: After washing it, I dry kale well with a salad spinner or towel, then mince it very fine--it takes just seconds in a food processor. Then you can put kale in just about anything.

Minced kale can be added to pasta, potato, bean, or vegetable salads. Or try it in tuna, egg, chicken, turkey, or tofu salads. It adds color as well as nutrition. Stir minced kale into soups, stews, rice, gravies, or sauces. Add it to scrambled eggs or tofu, sprinkle it on pizza, stuff it in burritos or quesadillas. The possibilities are endless.

To save time, I mince a whole batch of kale and then store it in the freezer (see "Storage"). It's easy to just break off a chunk as you need it. Although freezing destroys a small amount of kale's nutritive value, the convenience will make you more likely to use it.

My other kale secret is to add raw kale to smoothies. Kale blends right in--if you add only a leaf or two, it's virtually tasteless. I haven't met many kids who won't drink a fruit smoothie, so I always sneak in a little extra nutrition.
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nimh · Aug 26, 2006

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Kale is available year-round, but is at its most flavorful and tender in the winter months.

Skip to:

Varieties

Buying and storing

Availability

Preparation tips

Nutritional highlights

Health benefits and concerns

Kale is one of the open-leafed, darker green members of the cabbage family, and one of the top vegetable sources of vitamin A. It grows as curly, blue-green or violet-green leaves on slender stalks. Although kale originated in Asia and the Mediterranean, it has been most important to the cuisine of northern Europe. In Scotland, an invitation to dinner was phrased as “come to cail.”

Varieties

Kale is available as mature or baby leaves. Although the most common type has curly leaves that are deep green with a tinge of blue, Russian kale has purple-red stems and a less curly leaf. Kale is also available frozen. Flowering kale consists of ruffled heads of green kale tinged with ornamental pink, purple, and white. The taste and texture are not as good as leafy kale.

Buying and storing tips

Look for dark bluish-green or dark leaves that are not wilted. Avoid those that are yellowing. Store kale in a perforated plastic bag in the vegetable crisper and use it within a few days.

Availability

Kale is available year-round, but it shines as a cold weather crop and is at its most flavorful and tender in the winter months.

Preparation, uses, and tips

Wash kale well by dunking it in a bowl of tepid water several times and then rinsing under cold running water. Small kale leaves can be used whole. The larger leaves should be stripped or cut from the center rib. The rib can be chopped into small pieces and cooked with the leaf or discarded. To shred the leaves, place them in a pile, roll up, and then thinly slice them.

Baby kale can be used raw mixed with other greens in salads. Mature kale must be cooked, as it is too tough to consume raw. It can be steamed, but tastes best when boiled or simmered in vegetable broth.

Kale can also be added to soups and stews. It is especially good in soups that contain potatoes, barley, or beans. Kale with white beans and sausage is a traditional Portuguese soup. Good ways to flavor kale are to add any of the following: garlic, olive oil, fresh lemon juice, toasted sesame oil, cinnamon, caraway seeds, currants, or toasted pine nuts.

To boil

Traditional ways to prepare kale call for long cooking—about 40 minutes—until it is very soft. However, kale can also be boiled quickly, about 5 to 8 minutes, until it is just slightly crunchy.

To sauté

Boil the kale first for about 5 minutes to enhance its flavor. Then sauté in oil with onions and garlic for about five minutes.

Nutritional Highlights

Kale (raw), 1 cup (67g)
Calories: 33
Protein: 2.2g
Carbohydrate: 6.7g
Total Fat: 0.47g
Fiber: 1.3g
*Excellent source of: Vitamin C (80mg), and Vitamin A (5,963 IU)

*Foods that are an “excellent source” of a particular nutrient provide 20% or more of the Recommended Daily Value. Foods that are a “good source” of a particular nutrient provide between 10 and 20% of the Recommended Daily Value.
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tigerlily · Aug 27, 2006

hmmm okay i'll have to switch to kale then. i eat a lot of spinach normally... i thought it was supposed to be great for me. i don't think i've ever tried it before but i hope it has as many uses as spinach because i put spinach in everything

HiatusMcGee · Oct 1, 2006

what about canned kale? thats how I cook with it, is it any worse than fresh.....

tigerlily · Oct 1, 2006

if i remember correctly... frozen is the best way to go because it's frozen pretty much immediately, while fresh often gets shipped really far and canned.... well i'm not really sure how canning works.

nimh · Oct 1, 2006

sorry, but canned foods are artifacts

my order of preference is:

fresh from the garden

fresh from the farmer's market

locally grown produce from the grocery store

imported produce from the grocery store

choose something else that falls into the first 4 categories

frozen produce

dried produce

canned produce is dead last because it is mostly dead

canned kale is going to be better for you than junk 'food', but in the grand scale of things, it's not ~living~ anymore.

HiatusMcGee · Oct 2, 2006

hmmm that's the way we use it in my family recipie..... thanks for the info.

Avocado Noni · Oct 3, 2006

Hey NIMH. Should we really be knocking a little oxalic acid in spinach when many people out there are still eating Mcdonalds and mac and cheese??? I think theres worse things people could do than eat spinach.

I personally don't like it, and I prefer fresh wild greens like dandelion, red clover, sorrell an dplantain...and organic romaine from the store(so refreshing...)...but I do know that the hybridized farmed spinach has much less oxalic acid than wild spinach...and it is only dangerous in large amounts, if you eat it everyday.

Kale ROCKS. Any plant strong enough to survive during winter is a plant energy I want in ME!

nimh · Oct 3, 2006

hey, glad you found my foodie forum, i was going to pm you an invite.

Olympic-Bullshitter · Jan 18, 2011

Once temperatures rise, older kale plants will start going to seed. Kale plants create hundreds of tiny flowers on stalks that emerge where the leaves attach to the stem. In a couple of weeks, the flowers petals fall off and seed pods form on the stalks. Let the pods ripen and dry on the plant...they'll get brown and brittle...then harvest the largest pods. Remove the seeds from their pods...there will be hundreds...save them in a paper bag, and plant them in early spring.

blackcat666 · Jan 18, 2011

nimh you are 100% WRONG about spinach or, any other members of the goosefoot family of vegetables.

spinach and any other members of the goosefoot family, is the number one vegetables too eat, to pervent blindness.

anyone who developes macula degeneration is perscribed, to eat a lot of goosefoot vegetables.
they will slow down the degeration of the macula or, stop it all together.

if people were to eat just two (2) ounces of spinach or, other goosefoot vegetables a day from childhood to old age; macula degenration would become a very, very, very, rare disease.

kale is a great tasting veggie.
i don't grow too much of it.
i grow one hell of alot of swiss chard, which is a member of the goosefoot family, like spinach is.
it is easy to grow.
it grows all year round in this part of texas.
it has the same therapeutic properies as spinach for the eyes.
and, it taste one hell of alot better then kale!
and no, neither carrots, nor kale, have the same therapeutic properies as spinach or, other goosefoot vegetables to pervent macula degeneration.

your opening post just proves that, a little knowledge can have dier consequences.

and, that stuff you said about canned veggies is horseshit also. but, that is for another discussion.

neone · Jan 30, 2011

Oh shit what do i do! Spinnach is bad AND good for me!! I dont want to be blind!! I dont want to eat poison!!

Do you eat poison to stop blindness? What if I have Bowel Disruption? Do I have it with milk?
I DONT WANT TO BE BLIND!!

SunnyHappyVegan · Feb 9, 2011

Eeepp!
I looove kale! I am absolutely OBSESSED with it right now!
It's currently my favorite veggie

MissBHave · Feb 9, 2011

love me some kale
and kale chips are bomb!!

nimh · Apr 7, 2011

kale chips!

tear up some kale leaves (i send the spine of the leaf to the compost) toss with some evoo and seasalt. if youre patient dehydrate them. for more instant gratification roast in a 350F oven until crunchy

divine

re oxalates: they block absorption of calcium by the body and form into calcium oxalate which forms kidney stones. ouch

if i was worried about macular degeneration (and im not) i would look at the quality of fats in my diet. too many pufas? not enough O3's? get rid of processed crap. up antioxidant intake. read some abram hoffer.

Alternative_Thinker · Apr 8, 2011

I drink this stuff made of 100% kale... I guess I'd call it kale shake, it's in the powder form and you mix it with water. It's totally green and actually tastes almost like milk. I drink it at least once everyday, if not twice a day.

PurpByThePound · Apr 8, 2011

ive been eating hella kale with rice. shit is bomb

just put some garlic and olive oil in the pan, heat up, throw in the kale and cover for a few minutes to wilt a bit.

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Kale! (eats your greens, but not spinach!

nimh ~foodie~

honeyhannah herbuhslovuh

tigerlily proud mama

nimh ~foodie~

nimh ~foodie~

tigerlily proud mama

HiatusMcGee Banned

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HiatusMcGee Banned

Avocado Noni Member

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Kale! (eats your greens, but not spinach!

nimh ~foodie~

honeyhannah herbuhslovuh

tigerlily proud mama

nimh ~foodie~

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tigerlily proud mama

HiatusMcGee Banned

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nimh ~foodie~

Olympic-Bullshitter Banned

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nimh ~foodie~

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