Have I told this story before? The one about how I hated kale. How kale and I had such adverse reactions
that we couldn’t even try to form a relationship? How the EAT MORE KALE bumper stickers
actually made me cringe? I smile to
myself just thinking about that time from my -not so distant past-. Kale is dated
back to the Middle Ages when it was the most eaten vegetable in Europe. Why then, had
I felt so estranged and even turned off by it?
Kale was a big deal in Vermont while we were living
there. I had a nutritional
educationalist come speak to my high school class one day. She had them make kale smoothies. I never heard the end of it. Those teens were more than disappointed in
their green shakes over something more common to a high school cooking class, like
popcorn balls or no bake cookies. But
alas, my role as an educator was to facilitate their experiences (Oh but I wasn't
in class that day; not interested in a kale smoothie).
I lived with my sister for a while and she used kale. And it so seem so foreign and strange. She made kale chips and I wouldn't even try
them. Imagine the role model I was for
my daughter…
Then we returned to New Jersey, state of our upbringing, and
I started working on farms to connect to the nature piece I need in my
life. While gleaning for Rolling Harvest
Food Rescue, http://www.rollingharvest.org/,
the founder and executive director, Cathy Snyder, encouraged me to end my hate
with kale! She challenged me to eat the
baby kale we were picking at Gravity Hill Farm http://www.gravityhillfarm.com/ -
RAW.
You know, it was a beautiful summer
day, the sun shining so bright and strong (we often needed water and rescue in
the shade). But the big beautiful sky
was blue and we were all on a high with the idea of collecting free, organic,
expensive vegetables, for people in need.
So I just did it. While
harvesting, I just ripped a kale leaf off, pushed it in my mouth with all five fingers, and began to chew. Then another leaf, and another leaf. I was shocked. For a split second, an out of body experience had me peering down on myself with a crooked eye, wondering when the hell did I turn into a glutinous kale eater! But then I returned to the moment and chewing and tasting and swallowing and bring another and chewing and tasting and swallowing and all throughout the matnra - enjoying. It tasted amazing, so tender. Why had I been
so scared?
My relationship with kale was headed in a whole new direction. I didn’t know it at the time. My mom signed up for the CSA at Sandbrook Meadow
Farm http://www.sandbrookmeadowfarm.com/. And wouldn’t you know it but kale was one of
our first arrivals. I was leery about
how kale would be used and let my mom take it with her share, leaving me and
kale apart.
OK so fast forward, mom’s making the kale, she’s making a
soup, She’s saving me a portion. Oh my
Universe! I love it. I want it.
Next time we go to the CSA I ask mom to take 2 bunches of kale. “Do you want to take one home?”, she
asks me. “No, no, no,” I am clear as I
back away from the giant leafy green in front of me. “But make me that soup please.” Some might call this ‘The Tipping Point’.
From then on, kale is a part of my weekly diet. I love it.
I cook it. My family now loves
it too.
Enjoy your Fall Equinox. Make Kale and Sweet Potato Soup! I did with all plants from either my backyard garden or the CSA farm. 100% organic and local.
Kale and Sweet Potato
Soup serves
4 as main meal
INGREDIENTS
1 med onion, diced 12oz
diced tomatoes
6 cloves of garlic, whole 2
cups broth
¼ cup olive oil 2
cups water
1 bunch of kale 3
sweet potatoes diced
2 t salt 1
can pinto beans (or Northern Italian beans)
some dashes of black
pepper
2 T fresh basil
2 t. dried parsley
Instructions for meal
creation:
1 – Prep work: dice
onions, peel garlic, wash and massage kale, then cut into 2 inch strips.
2 – Heat oil medium. Add onions first for 3-5 minutes, stirring
occasionally. Press garlic in using a
garlic press and stir it constant, as to not let the garlic burn.
3 – Add kale and basil and
make sure they get mixed well with oil.
Then add in tomatoes and liquids.
4 – Cook for 5
minutes. Once it is to a boil, add sweet
potatoes. Simmer on low for 30 minutes.
5 – As the soup cooks,
taste it for seasoning. Adjust seasoning
as needed.
6 – Add pinto beans.
7- Mix in scrambled eggs
and noodles. Coat all ingredients well.
8 – Serve and enjoy.
Who Knew?
What's New and Beneficial About Kale
- Kale can provide you with some special
cholesterol-lowering benefits if you will cook it by steaming. The
fiber-related components in kale do a better job of binding together with
bile acids in your digestive tract when they've been steamed. When this
binding process takes place, it's easier for bile acids to be excreted,
and the result is a lowering of your cholesterol levels. Raw kale still
has cholesterol-lowering ability—just not as much.
- Kale's risk-lowering benefits for cancer have
recently been extended to at least five different types of cancer. These
types include cancer of the bladder, breast, colon, ovary, and prostate.
Isothiocyanates (ITCs) made from glucosinolates in kale play a primary
role in achieving these risk-lowering benefits.
- Kale is now recognized as providing
comprehensive support for the body's detoxification system. New research
has shown that the ITCs made from kale's glucosinolates can help regulate
detox at a genetic level.
- Researchers can now identify over 45 different
flavonoids in kale. With kaempferol and quercetin heading the list, kale's
flavonoids combine both antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits in way
that gives kale a leading dietary role with respect to avoidance of
chronic inflammation and oxidative stress.
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