The 52 New Foods Challenge – Kale

Last year I started The 52 New Foods Challenge: A Family Cooking Adventure for Each Week of the Year, with 150 Recipes. My goal was to try the new food designated for each week and to blog about why others might want to try it too. Well, I didn’t quite finish it. 🙁 So I’ve decided to start it again. Many of the foods might not be “new” for me or for you, but I like the idea of trying new things and shaking up my day-to-day food routine.

Food Facts:

• Good source of vitamins K, C, and A

• Contains more than twice the the level of antioxidants of other leafy greens
• Antioxidants include: beta-carotene, lute in, zeaxanthin
• Good source of folate, fiber, manganese, potassium, copper, and calcium
• It scores 1000/1000 on the ANDI score (a rating of nutrients per calorie)
• Is good for preventing: cancer, cardiovascular disease, degenerative eye diseases, and stomach ulcers
• Red leaf kale varieties have more nutrients than green leaf varieties
• Has more calcium than milk!!!!!
• Raw often has more nutrients
• However, raw kale, like other raw cruciferous veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, brussels, etc.) can be goitrogenic, if you have thyroid problems – it is important that you eat cooked kale
• For kale chips,  350 degrees produces the most nutrient chips

From Eating on the Wild Side: The Missing Link to Optimum Health
by Jo Robinson, The 52 New Foods Challenge: A Family Cooking Adventure for Each Week of the Year, with 150 Recipes by Jennifer Tyler Lee, and Superfoods: The Healthiest Foods on the Planet by Tonia Reinhard.