Fantastic, Organic Curly Kale back on the menu!

I'll try not to sell the lot on Thursday at StrEAT Market @# JQ

I'll be featuring a few delicious recipe ideas for Kale over the next few weeks, starting with a great way of making a lovely softened Kale Summer Salad to give you a great  boost of vitamins and antioxidants to provide a fabulous balancing antidote to all that Summer over indulgence of barbecues, beers and ice cream you've been getting into of late!?

Preparation - slicing and softening the kale.

Forget all that time consuming stripping the stalks out! Take 8 or 9 leaves and just wash the leaves, then lay 3 or 4 leaves at a time on top of each other and simply cut across them into thin ribbon strips with a large sharp knife ( you can discard the bottom end of the stalks). Place in a bowl and add a large slug of good quality Organic Olive Oil, a good pinch of sea salt and the juice of one lemon. Rub this all vigorously together, place in a sealed container and leave to work it's softening magic for at least 4 hours.

And then....

Add thinly sliced or grated Carrot, Beetroot and Apple, sesame seeds and pumpkin seeds. I'll leave the adjustment of amounts of these up to your discretion as you're fully able to use your smarts and decide the proportions for yourself. Mix it all in to a glorious healthy melange! Enjoy!

Synopsis of the health benefits of Kale

• Kale contains 17 times more Vitamin C than Carrots

• More Folate than Brocolli - Folic acid is a B vitamin that has a role in normal formation of blood, and supports the immune system to function normally

• Nearly double the Magnesium of Spring Greens

( Based on 100g raw - McCance & Widdowson's 'The Composition of Foods' )

Contains Zeaxanthin & Lutein

These are important in helping to resist AMD ( Age Related Macular Degeneration) which is the major cause of blindness in the Western World, this is especially true for women over 60.

• Lutein - an anti-oxidant which helps keep the eyes healthy.

• Lutein is not 'made' in the body and can only be obtained from food sources.

•  Kale contains 76mg lutein per kg, Broccoli which has 17mg, Carrots contain 2 mg per kg      

• Experts recommend we should eat 6-10mg of lutein each day.

• Zeaxanthin - is a powerful, natural antioxidant that protects the eye by absorbing damaging blue light          and reducing glare. Blue light can cause harmful oxidative stress in the eye and protecting cells and membranes by reducing harmful free radicals.

• Zeaxanthin is not "made" in the human body and must come from food
  
  

( Beatty et al 1999; Nolan et al 2007 - Analysis by Leatherhead Food International )