Linda Carruthers, RDN

Mayo Clinic Health System dietitian explains what you need to know about kale

Kale is not a new vegetable, but you may have just started hearing more about it. It’s very popular in northern Europe and now throughout the United States. During the Middle Ages, kale was planted and used to feed humans and livestock. History books state that Thomas Jefferson experimented with several varieties of kale at his Monticello estate in the early 1800s.

The popularity of kale has skyrocketed in our country over the last four to five years. It has become available at not only farmer’s markets but local grocery stores as well. You can purchase it in fresh bunches or pre-rinsed and trimmed in bags. Local gardeners are also planting kale for their own use on the dinner table.

Types of kale

• Curly kale is the most common type. The bright green leaves look like ruffles. The flavor is pungent and peppery.

• Dinosaur kale has narrow green leaves that are wrinkly like dinosaur skin. The leaves are attached to a firm stem that should be removed.

• Redbor kale is kale with ruffled leaves ranging in color from a deep red to purple.

• Russian kale is harder to find and it has flat fringed leaves that range in color from green to red to purple. It has a more sweet and peppery flavor. 

 

Nutritional benefits

Kale is a nutrition superstar due to the amounts of vitamins A, K, B6 and C, calcium, potassium, copper and manganese it contains. One cup of raw kale has just 33 calories and only 7 grams of carbohydrate. So, it’s a very diabetes-friendly/weight-friendly vegetable. Kale is a member of the cruciferous vegetable family along with cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, broccoli, collard greens, kohlrabi, rutabaga, turnips and bok choy. These vegetables offer health benefits, including potentially reducing the risk of various types of cancer. The only people who may need to avoid or limit kale intake are those that form oxalate containing kidney stones or take the blood thinner Coumadin/warfarin. Be sure to check with your doctor or dietitian if you have questions.

 

Uses for kale

Kale holds its texture well in cooking, and it can be steamed, stir fried, roasted, or eaten raw. You can turn it into smoothies, kale chips, wilt it into soup, mash it with potatoes or turn it into pesto. Always remove the middle rib as it tends to be overly tough and fibrous and imparts a more bitter taste when eaten. Remove the rib by hand or with kitchen shears.

Kale is a cool-weather and frost-resistant plant and is available in Minnesota January through June and October through December.

How do you pick out the best bunch of kale? Avoid wilted or browning leaves. The leaves and stalks should be dark green with small- to medium-sized leaves free of any yellowing. You want it to be firm and dry instead of wilted and mushy.

Kale holds up for up to five days if loosely wrapped in the refrigerator. If it is kept longer than this the leaves tend to toughen.

 

Kale Challenge

A good goal is to fill half your plate with fruits and vegetables. Get some kale, remove the center rib and tear up the leaves, and add them to a regular green salad. It will add color, flavor and texture to the salad.

 

See recipes in this week's issue of the Springfield Advance-Press.

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