Food Of The Week: Black Kale

I'm thrilled to be introducing a new concept for this blog called "food of the week". While working with my Holistic Nutrition clients, I am always looking for new ways to motivate and introduce new foods to their diet. Each week, we will be deep diving into a specific food, outlining its nutritional value and benefits to your health and learning how to cook it with simple recipes. In our first week, we will be looking into incorporating Black Kale.

Black kale is a variety of kale from the Acephala group of Brassica Oleracea grown for its edible leaves. They are a much darker green colour then your regular common kale found in the grocery store. It is also commonly found in Italian cuisines- especially Tuscan foods where it gets its name as Black Tuscan Kale.

I like to enjoy my black kale as simple as possible. I find that this variety is packed with flavour and so I usually steam it with some sort of broth, tons of garlic and drizzle it with a touch of olive oil and sea salt. You can find my simple recipe for Black Tuscan Kale HERE. Note that steaming kale helps to breakdown its tough fibres making it much easier to digest than simple raw kale.

I always encourage getting kale and other leafy greens in the organic section of your grocery store whenever possible. Kale and other leafy greens tend to be pest attractors in the garden making them a prime target for excessive pesticides use. Organic kale will be a sure way to rest your mind at ease when it comes to avoiding pesticides in your diet.

Black kales is a highly nutritious food as well. Black kale is loaded with:

• Lutein: anti-inflammatory, improves & prevents age-related macular disease (eye vision damage).

• Vitamin K: primary function to build blood clotting proteins & build health strong bones.

• Vitamin A: aids with the immune system, reproduction, growth & development. Especially important in pregnant women.

• Vitamin C: improves the immune system, cancer prevention, boosts collagen

• B Vitamins: create new blood cells, maintains healthy skin and brain cells.

• Fibre: improves digestion, helps to lower blood pressure and cholesterol

• Calcium: builds and maintains strong bones

• Manganese: necessary for normal brain and nerve function

• Copper: helps the body make red blood cells and protects nerve cells

• Iron: necessary in red blood cell production, immune support, reduces fatigue, improves sleep quality, reduces dark under eye circles.

As you can see, black kale is an excellent green vegetable to add to your regular green veggie rotation. I'd like to encourage you to consume one or two large portions of black kale every week. I hope you enjoy!

With love & light,

Renelle B