A couple of summers ago I joined a food co-op. It was located right here on campus and once a week I received a bag of organic fruits and vegetables. I never knew what would be included and even when I saw the items sometimes I still didn’t know what they were. That was how I was introduced to Kale. It appeared one day in the bag. I had always thought kale was seaweed. Nope. That would be kelp. Googling the veggie I found that it is considered to be a wild cabbage and is touted to be one of the top healthy foods.
Great – but I still didn’t know what to do with it. Back I headed to Google to find some recipes for this quite hardy looking green. Turns out there were quite a few. I gave kale chips a try – not really a fan. But I did find a recipe for kale quinoa salad which quickly became a favorite request of my mom for family gatherings.
Here is the quite impressive list of nutrient you can receive from a single cup of raw kale, containing 33 calories, 6 grams of carbs, and 3 grams of protein:
- Vitamin A – 206% of the RDA
- Vitamin K – 684% of the RDA
- Vitamin C – 134% of the RDA
- Vitamin B6 – 9% of the RDA
- Manganese – 26% of the RDA
- Calcium – 9% of the RDA
- Copper – 10% of the RDA
- Potassium – 9% of the RDA
- Magnesium – 6% of the RDA
- 3% or more of the RDA for Vitamin B1, B2, and B3, iron and phosphorus
And here is the recipe for kale quinoa salad:
- 10 kale leaves, washed and torn into bite size pieces
- 1-2 cups of cooked quinoa (I find that 1 cup is plenty, but the original recipe called for 2 cups)
- 1 cup pecan or walnut halves
- 1 cup feta cheese
- 1 cup pomegranate seeds, currants, or craisins
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp dijon mustard
- 1 glove minced garlic
- Salt/pepper to taste
Whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, mustard, garlic, salt and pepper. Pour this dressing over the kale leaves, being sure to give them a good coating. Add the remaining ingredients. (Make sure the quinoa is cooled.) Enjoy.