Incredible Wednesday – Nourishing
Here it comes, my favorite of the autumn greens. Kale remains in the garden long after everything else has given up, and it actually tastes better the colder it gets.
When frost comes, the plant converts some of its starch into sugar, a kind of built-in frost protection. For us, that means milder, sweeter leaves. Kale picked after the first night of frost is simply a different experience.
Small leaves, big on nutrition
Kale is one of the most nutrient-dense vegetables we have:
- Vitamin K in quantities, important for bones and blood clotting
- Vitamin C, more per gram than many citrus fruits
- Folate, calcium and potassium
- Lutein and zeaxanthin, antioxidants linked to eye health
- Fiber, which the intestinal flora thanks for
Wednesday is my green day at home, so today we eat it raw. The trick is to massage it.
Mashed kale salad with apple and roasted seeds
4 servings
- 1 bunch of kale (about 200 g / 7 oz)
- 1 tablespoon (1 tbsp) olive oil
- 1 tsp (¼ tsp) salt
- ½ lemon, juiced
- 1 Swedish apple, preferably sour, thinly sliced
- 3 tablespoons (3 tbsp) pumpkin seeds
- 2 tablespoons (2 tbsp) sunflower seeds
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- Tear the leaves from the stems and coarsely shred them.
- Drizzle with oil and salt. Massage with your hands for two minutes, until the leaves soften, shrink and become dark shiny.
- Dry roast the seeds in a pan until fragrant.
- Whisk lemon, honey and mustard and fold into the cabbage.
- Top with apple and seeds.
The salad keeps well in the fridge until tomorrow, so feel free to make a double batch.
Close to you, from the land to the plate.
Maria
Tags: kale, incrediblewednesday, autumn, amaellelife, rawfood