Over the holiday break I sat down with Allison Tannenbaum who is a Registered DietitianNutrient Analysis and Nutrition Label Service for Restaurant. She explained to me, “Kale is a superstar standout of veggies that is not only low in calories, but also provides many vitamins and minerals. It is also packed with fiber and phytonutrients as well. Remember phytonutrients? Some are antioxidants and some have anti inflammatory compounds that have important health benefits. Kale has some of the old standby phytonutrients and antioxidants such as beta carotene and vitamin C but also some recently discovered ones such as kaempferol and quercitin, to name a few.”
The micronutrient standouts in Kale include vitamins K,C,A and the mineral Manganese, however KALE is also a great source of vitamin B6, and the minerals Copper, Calcium, and Potassium. With only 20 calories per half cup serving you cannot go wrong with this nutrient dense veggie.
So how does Allison prepare her delicious Kale?
She explains that, the way to prepare Kale and retain the highest amount of nutrietns is to simple steam it.
- First wash and cut of the thick stems at the bottom (some may say you can throw those in the steamer as well) then chop up the Kale in approximaely 1/2″ slices.
- Then, theow it in a teamer of boiling water, cover and cook for five minutes.
What Allison did to make her Kale extra yummy is she added some garlic flavor cous cous and tossed it with the steamed Kale, sliced cherry tomatoes and a homemade lemon dressing. You can add feta cheese, olives, pine nuts, cranberries, whatever your family likes! Make it your own.
Another recipe that she found online was KALE CHIPS:
- Preheat oven to 340 degrees
- Line a baking tray with parchment paper.
- Cut the KALE as described in the recipe above.
- For one bunch of KALE toss with 1 Tbsp of olive oil and season with Kosher Salt.
- Put the KALE on the baking tray with the curly side down so it looks like a little upside down V.
- Bake for 10 minutes.
The KALE should be crispy and almost melt in your mouth. You may have to adjust oven temperatures and cooking times for your oven. It is something to experiment with and also change up by using different seasonings such as Parmesan Cheese, chili powder, salt and vinegar, garlic, etc.
MOMS, TRY PUTTING THIS OUT FOR YOUR KIDS AFTER SCHOOL AS A SNACK!
For more of Allison’s recipes and blog posts visit her website here and check out her website AllisonTannenbaum.com. Also her twitter shares really great daily tips on how to stay healthy when eating 🙂
