According to the ANDI Scores – one of several indexes of nutrient density (nutrients per calorie) – kale and collards are the highest rated foods, meaning they are considered to be the most nutrient dense foods. In addition, kale is a member of the cabbage family and so it contains all the anti-cancer benefits that come packaged in cruciferous vegetables.
So including more kale (and collards) in our diets, is a no brainer. But how?
My favorite kale recipe these days is as simple as it gets: Simply Roasted Kale. Roasting kale makes kale slightly sweet and really delicious! And you can use roasted kale in salads, as a side dish, or just to decorate the dinner plate!
To make roasted kale, you just bake raw kale in the oven and remove it from the oven when some of the edges of the kale get brown and crisp.
Ingredients
1 bunch curly (preferably organic)
Note: I think curly kale works better in this recipe than dinosaur kale. It’s sweeter and doesn’t burn so easily.
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Remove the woody stems from the kale and reserve the stems (freeze) to use in making a vegetable soup stock; leave the tender stems attached to the kale leaves. Wash the kale and then rinse it well. Place the kale in a salad spinner and spin it just a little. You want to leave some moisture on the leaves. Tear the kale into generous pieces. (The pieces collapse a bit when roasted so you will have smaller pieces after roasting.) Place the kale pieces into a bowl and toss them with just a teaspoon of olive oil, until all the leaves have a touch of oil on them.
Place the pieces of kale on a baking sheet (as shown above).
Bake the kale at 375 degrees F for 12 minutes. Use tongs and turn the kale pieces over and bake for about another 8 minutes.
Serve the roasted kale fresh from the oven.
If you need to store the kale, that’s OK, but it will lose the slight crispness that you get when it’s fresh from the oven.
And…if you want to make kale chips, here are some good recipes:
Enjoy and be healthy!
~Leni
Monamifood 