VEGETABLE FACTS AND RECIPES
Vegetable: Kale
Recipes:
Kale Pesto Pasta
Type: Kale is a member of the brassica family, along with cabbages, broccoli, cauliflower and brussel sprouts. You're most likely to find curly leaved kale in your veg boxes in this country, especially during the winter months, which is survives well.
Vitamin and mineral content: Kale is a good source of vitamins A, C and E, and contains minterals including manganese, iron, calcium and potassium
Reputedly good for: Kale is said to be a preventor of the onset of various cancers, due to phytochemicals it contains, such as sulphoraphane. It is also a powerful antioxidant has anti-inflammatory properties.
Availability: Kale is a great winter veg, available from September right through to February.
Storage: Kale keeps pretty well in the fridge loosley packed in a plastic bag. It's bitter taste gets stronger the longer it's kept, so it's best eaten after a few days.
Preparation: Give it a good wash and break of any fibrous-looking stalks.
Origins: Kale has been used as a staple food across Europe for hundreds of years, predating even cabbage. The Ancient Greeks cultivated an early curly-leaved vegetable, thought to be the ancestor of modern kale, as far back as the fourth century BC. In and out of favour over the centuries, it was re-established in the 19th century by Russian traders who took it as far as North America.