Mid-winter to spring best time for Kale nutrients

Kristin's Kitchen
Wednesday, 18 February 2009


This one woman comes into the grocery store all the time and always enters the checkout line with the same thing in the top seat of her cart in plastic bagfuls.


Every time, I have to ask her which ones are which because they all have a seemingly exact appearance when you’re not looking at them at the same time.


It’s like trying to tell the difference between two different kinds of red apples without the code on them; they’re all red, they all look like apples, so what?


And every time, she delves right back into the story about her pet rabbits, forgetting she’s told me about them ten times already.

She just loves those rabbits, she says.

They are really great pets, just like dogs, if you know how to take care of them, she says. Greens are great for their digestion, too, and carrots aren’t as good for them as people might believe, she says.


The food I’m speaking of is crisp, leafy greens, which include kale, mustard, turnip, collard, beet, dandelion, spinach and chard.


Apart from the humorous aside about the woman and her rabbits, many forget greens are great for people’s digestion, as well.


Kale, in best season between mid winter and the early part of spring, provides rich cancer-fighting phytochemicals. It’s high in calcium, iron, Vitamin C, fiber and Vitamins A, C, K and E. Beta-carotine, too, is present in seven times the amount that it is in broccilli, according to ezinearticles.com.


And make sure to chew that kale up well, too. Chopping or chewing releases an important chemical called sulforaphane that “somehow triggers the liver to produce enzymes that detoxify cancer causing chemicals, of which we are all exposed on a daily basis,” Dr. Linda Posh said on ezinearticles.com.


All the other greens are rich in very similar nutrients, since they fall in the same family.


Remembering which greens are which provides a bit more of a challenge, however.


Kale is very curly at the edges, while mustard has the same curl, but lighter in tint and a bit more crinkled. Turnip greens are somewhat of a mix between spinach leaves and lettuce leaves, but have sort of deeper green, wavy edges. Collard greens are large and smooth like plant leaves and a lighter green.


The most common way to cook greens, if you’re not going to use them in a salad, for example, is to cook them in a covered pan with olive oil, seasonings and the occasional splash of vinegar with just enough water to hydrate the leaves and keep them from burning.


Tastes range from the spicy and peppery in mustard greens to the mild flavor of turnip greens to the much stronger flavor of kale and collards.


If you prefer not to eat greens by themselves, you can also use them in recipes. Just like spinach, you can sometimes mask the strong flavor and keep the added texture and nutrients when you add them with a combination of other ingredients.


Here’s a great recipe from Cookinglight.com I found using kale. It’s different, but sounds delicious.



Mashed-potato cakes with onions and kale


12 cups water
1 bunch kale, trimmed (about 4 ounces)
2 2/3 cups (1-inch) cubed Yukon gold or red potato (about 1 pound)
¾ teaspoon salt, divided
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter or stick margarine
3 cups diced onion
2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage
¼ cup sliced green onions
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
cooking spray
sage sprigs (optional)

Directions:
Bring the water to a boil in a Dutch oven or large saucepan; add kale. Cover and cook over medium heat for five minutes or until tender. Remove the kale with a slotted spoon, reserving the cooking liquid. Chop kale and set aside.


Add potato to reserved cooking liquid in pan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes or until tender. Drain; partially mash potatoes. Stir in kale and ¼ teaspoon salt.


Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.


Heat the oil and butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add ½ teaspoon salt, diced onion and chopped sage. Cook 13 minutes or until browned. Combine potato mixture, onion mixture, green onions and pepper. Remove from heat; cool slightly. Divide potato mixture into eight equal portions, shaping each into a 1/2 –inch-thick patty. Place patties on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake for 20 minutes.


Preheat the broiler.


Broil patties for five minutes or until browned. Garnish with sage sprigs, if desired.


So if you own a rabbit now or ever own a rabbit in the future, keep this information in the back of your mind for the health of your little, furry wet-nosed pet. But, more importantly, buy the greens for yourself.



Source: theapp.appstate.edu