Kale

Overall, the nutritional density of kale is extremely beneficial for a healthy diet. When you add kale to your diet, you will be benefiting from a huge amount of vitamin K (more than 1100% of the daily recommendation), as well as significant amounts of vitamin A, vitamin C, copper, and manganese. Additionally, there are decent levels of potassium, calcium, iron, dietary fiber, vitamin B6, omega-3 fatty acids, magnesium, thiamin, niacin, folate, and phosphorus. There are also some powerful antioxidants found in kale, namely lutein and zeaxanthin, as well as kaempferol and quercetin. Finally, a single cup of this vegetable only has 36 calories but provides a notable amount of protein. All the kale varieties we grow are tender, deep-green, and ready for a kale salad or a quick saute.

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Storage

Store kale in the fridge for a week, if not longer. If you want to store greens in the fridge for longer, wrap them in a damp paper towel. Greens also freeze well. Blanch in salted boiling water for several minutes, drain and plunge into ice water. Chill for two minutes; drain. Pack in freezer containers or bags.

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Cooking Tips

Remove the middle rib, which can be tough and unpleasantly fibrous, even when cooked. You can do this by hand, with a knife or kitchen shears. You can use the ribs in many ways, like poured on pestos to add fiber, in smoothies,raw as snacks, or pickled. Kale is a versatile leafy green -- it's great blanched, sauteed, or dressed raw as a salad. Kale is also delicious in soups, on pizza, in whole-grain salads, or even roasted as ‘chips.' To prepare kale, stack and roll the leaves, and chop into whatever sized pieces you like. If eating it raw, slice it very thinly, in a chiffonade.

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Recipes

The Kale Salad that Started it All

Garlicky Sauteed Kale

Kale Chips

Kale & Quinoa Salad with Ricotta Salata

Paula Wolfert’s Knife & Fork Kale

Beans & Greens Soup

Ruth Reichl’s Spicy Tuscan Kale

Suzanne Goin’s Slow Cooked Tuscan Kale

Baked Chilaquiles with Black Beans & Kale

Kale (and/or lettuce) Caesar Salad