Kale!

[Alex Libman]

O kale, how I love thee! 

Thou truly art the John Galt of foodstuffs!  (Although Ayn Rand would call you "grass" and stuff her cigarette-hole with meat and chocolates instead, but a new generation of rational philosophers should know better).

Always just 99c a pound at a local supermarket here - cheaper than most other vegetables, and also tastier and a lot more nutritious!

I like to eat kale plain and raw, just munch on it like popcorn, but it can also be made into salads, soups, cooked side-dishes, etc, etc, etc.  Cooking reduces some of its vitamins (i.e. C), but more than enough is left intact, and most vitamins and minerals survive the cooking process relatively unharmed.  Of course you can juice it as well, mix in some lemon juice, etc.  But, once you get used to it, raw is best.

You can munch on kale as much as you want and only lose weight.  One pound contains 15g of protein - that's 26.4% of calories from protein, while a McDonald's Big Mac only has 20%!  Kale has the highest-quality non-sugary carbs for lasting energy, very healthy fatty acids in small amounts, and of course plenty of fiber.  One pound contains 1395% the daily dose of vitamin A, 907% the daily dose of vitamin C, 61% calcium, 43% iron, 58% potassium, 61% of vitamin B6, 39% magnesium, tons (3.7mg) of vitamin K, and dozens of other important micro-nutrients in less spectacular amounts.  Needless to say, Kale is an antioxidant champion, a good source of carotenoids, helps prevent cancer, helps repair cellular and DNA daname, has anti-inflammatory properties, etc.  Kale also contains heroic amounts of lutein / zeaxanthin, which we computer geeks badly need to make sure our eyes don't explode from strain by age 40!

Of all kale's virtues, perhaps the most relevant one is its agricultural efficiency and resilience in colder climates (like New Hampshire).  It was the most common green vegetable in Northern Europe for centuries, and thrived very well in Canada in the 19th century.  Kale freezes well, and actually tastes sweeter and more flavorful after being exposed to a frost.  It's not exactly a calories-per-acre champ, but it would rank very highly in yield efficiency for many micro-nutrients.  With the advent of 21st century greenhouse and hydroponic technology, it is a perfect vegetable to focus on in small backyard growing operations.



(Yes, this thread is an ode to a leafy green vegetable, in direct answer to the "Bacon" thread I see in my "unread replies" every time I visit here.   )


In conclusion...  kale porn!















(PS:  RIP to similar ode thread I once made to okra on the FTL BBS, but those idiots deleted it...)

[Kat Kanning]

Yum!  We have kale in smoothies most mornings.  I like it massaged gently with a tiny bit of olive oil and salt...add some tomatoes and red peppers, beautiful!  We also like kale/potato/sweet potato soup.

OK to make an okra thread..I like that even better than kale!

[Kat Kanning]

Oh yeah, and kale chips made in the dehydrator

[Alex Libman]

Yum!  We have kale in smoothies most mornings.  I like it massaged gently with a tiny bit of olive oil and salt...add some tomatoes and red peppers, beautiful!  We also like kale/potato/sweet potato soup.

Awesome!

OK to make an okra thread..I like that even better than kale!

"You could not step twice into the same river; for other waters are ever flowing on to you."  --Heraclitus

My okra passion has subsided.  Plus it's more of a southern vegetable, while kale will grow better in NH.

Oh yeah, and kale chips made in the dehydrator

Hmm, in theory it seems like a great way to preserve raw food, which should leave most nutrients intact.  (Although the greenhouse gardening ideal is to plan things out so you always have things ripening "just-in-time" in right amounts to be eaten fresh without the need for preservation, but no one ever gets it right 100%.)  I've never used a dehydrator before, and don't recall having anything dehydrated except meat.  Very interesting idea, I'll look into it sometime.

[MTPorcupine3]

Have you made the move yet? Kale grows very well in New Hampshire. And it makes a splendid addition to sauerkraut, as does chard.

[Raineyrocks]

I hate kale.  I know it's good for you but to me it tastes disgusting and is so hard to chew.  I tried to juice it before too and still didn't like it, my favorite juice drink is carrots, apples, and celery.

[Kat Kanning]

Embrace the kale-love, Rainey!

[Fluff and Stuff]

I guess you could use a greenhouse but I doubt it is needed.  Even if Keene you can grow it outside from spring into Dec.  Heck, it warmer parts of NH, maybe it grows outside until Jan.

Oh yes, Kale is great!

[Alex Libman]

Have you made the move yet?

Yes and no.  I've spent a lot of time in an undisclosed Coös County location over the past two years, on and off, keeping mostly to myself, and now I'm back in Jersey, for a while at least...  Libman drama discussed elsewhere - this thread is about a different vegetable entirely.   

Kale grows very well in New Hampshire. And it makes a splendid addition to sauerkraut, as does chard.

Yes indeedy, during their proper growing season, and of course a properly equipped greenhouse could even grow coffee outside the orbit of Pluto...  Hmm, I wonder what the property taxes are like out there...   

Technically sauerkraut isn't itself a vegetable, but a German way of ruining what could have been a perfectly good kimchi.  Plain cabbage isn't a micro-nutrient champ though, far from it.  Why bother growing second-rate veggies where there's plenty of better ones you can grow?

Embrace the kale-love, Rainey!

One of us!  One of us!  Gooble gobble, gooble gobble!   

[shyfrog]

Kale is popular here in Peterborough. Nature's Green Grocer does a smoothie called "Swamp Thing"
Apple, cucumber, & kale blended w/ banana & New Chapter berry greens.

Harlow's Pub makes a Shitake/Kale stir fry. I haven't tried any of these, but all the Kale lovers...love 'em.

[Kat Kanning]

Both of those sound good

[Pat K]

I will have lots of Kale.




If ya take the K off the front.

[Alex Libman]

Libman Labs has been working on chickpea vodka for a while now, but kale ale...  unthunkable!

[Pat McCotter]

I'll have my kale after the cow or pig has incorporated it, thank you.

[littlehawk]

I like green drinks made in my juicer. I never had kale. Form what I know it is packed full of good stuff...and quite easy to grow. Hail to the Kale!