Welcome to Big Kale

Happy National Kale Day!!!! YES, it’s a thing and NO, I didn’t make it up!!! As kale’s self-appointed PR person, it gives me great honor to highlight for you today’s guest at the big-kid’s table! In case you are just getting to know me (In that case, Hi! How are you? Nice to meet you!), I live, breathe, and dream about plants, and in particular, the leafy greens. I don’t just eat kale every day, I think most of the cells in my body are made of kale! Which, in full disclosure, is actually accurate as we are quite literally, what we eat! But I digress…. For real, though, if you know who I can contact at Big Kale to officially come on board, please let me know!

Kale has an interesting history. Again, being a kale-nerd, the word “interesting” may be a bit biased but just stick with me. Or just scroll to the bottom of this article for an ahh-mazing kale recipe, no judgment here! In Turkey, indigenous people consume the leaves as a major part of their diets. (1) However, it is unclear if texts are speaking of kale as we know it, or more of a general sense of the Brassicaceous family, in particular, black cabbage (Brassica oleraceae L. var. acephala DC.). Kale was an important crop in the Roman Empire and consumed throughout the Middle Ages. It was brought to the United States by English settlers in the 1600s. (2) Kale is related to broccoli, cabbage, and turnips. Broccoli has long been the much-researched star of this group, but in recent years, scientists have started looking into kale. (3)

If you are not a fan, that’s ok! There are plenty of other leafy greens that are just as healthy (if not healthier than kale, yes, I said it.) (4). Let’s talk about the basics. Kale is a leafy green vegetable. It was commonly used to garnish plates at “fancy” restaurants in the ‘90s. I particularly remember taking it from plates from Dick’s Pizzeria to feed to my guinea pig, Skittles. Then we, as a society, figured out we needed to actually be eating it the stuff, and everything changed! Kale is kind of like a jacked-up version of lettuce, however, it is MUCH healthier than plain old lettuce. If Popeye only knew!

Kale contains a variety of nutrients including vitamins, minerals, protein, calcium, phytonutrients, amino acids (5), and fiber. It is known as a “superfood” which is a much sexier term for “functional” food which means a food that is consumed for a particular reason, such as reducing disease risk, lowering cholesterol, increasing fiber consumption, obtaining a specific nutrient. (6) Many of the health benefits of kale and the crucifers, come from the phytonutrients including glucosinolate, polyphenol, carotenoid, or terpenoid groups. (7) One cup of kale supplies more than 70 percent of the RDI for vitamin C with only 20 calories. (8) That’s more vitamin C than an orange! It is recommended to consume a variety of cooked and raw crucifers to ensure you get all these goodies into your diet.

Make sure to check out all the different varieties of kale. Likely, your grocery store only has curly (dinosaur) kale or Lacinato (Tuscan) kale. That’s just the tip of the iceberg! But, if your grocery store has any kale at all, consider yourself lucky! Check out local farmers, farmers markets, or grow your own!

Kale can be steamed, braised, sautéed, roasted, dehydrated, or consumed raw (baby kale or regular kale massaged with oil to tenderize). You can add kale to smoothies, sauté it with a little olive oil and garlic, tear it up into small pieces and use it in a salad, add to soups and stews, make kale chips, and so much more! Make sure to take the leaves off the stems. Those are not pleasant! Although I have seen some recipes for kale stem hummus!

Here is a super yummy recipe to try out. Even kale-haters have given this some pretty positive green-thumbs up!

Peace, love & kale!

Lindsay

References:

 1.     Ayaz, F.A., Glew, R.H., Millson, M., Huang, H.S., Chuang, L.T. … Ayaz, S.H.  (2006).  Nutrient contents of kale (Brassica oleraceae L. var. acephala DC.), Food Chemistry, 96(4), 572-579. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2005.03.011

2.     Murray, M. & Pizzorno, J.  (2005).  The Encyclopedia of Healing Foods. New York, NY, Atra Books.

3.     Šamec, D., Urlić, B., & Salopek-Sondi, B. (2018). Kale (Brassica oleracea var. acephala) as a superfood: Review of the scientific evidence behind the statement. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, 1–12. doi:10.1080/10408398.2018.1454400 

4.     Šamec, D., Urlić, B., & Salopek-Sondi, B. (2018). Kale (Brassica oleracea var. acephala) as a superfood: Review of the scientific evidence behind the statement. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, 1–12. doi:10.1080/10408398.2018.1454400 

5.     Ayaz, F.A., Glew, R.H., Millson, M., Huang, H.S., Chuang, L.T. … Ayaz, S.H.  (2006).  Nutrient contents of kale (Brassica oleraceae L. var. acephala DC.), Food Chemistry, 96(4), 572-579. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2005.03.011

6.     Šamec, D., Urlić, B., & Salopek-Sondi, B. (2018). Kale (Brassica oleracea var. acephala) as a superfood: Review of the scientific evidence behind the statement. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, 1–12. doi:10.1080/10408398.2018.1454400 

7.     Šamec, D., Urlić, B., & Salopek-Sondi, B. (2018). Kale (Brassica oleracea var. acephala) as a superfood: Review of the scientific evidence behind the statement. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, 1–12. doi:10.1080/10408398.2018.1454400 

8.     Murray, M. & Pizzorno, J.  (2005).  The Encyclopedia of Healing Foods. New York, NY, Atra Books.