Seasonal ingredient of the week: Kale

IN SEASON: September - February

Kale is in season through the coldest months of the year, providing us with a serious powerhouse of nutrients when we need it the most. It’s packed full of vitamins A, C and K as well as a number of minerals such as copper and iron. It’s great for your immune system, but also supports healthy bones and teeth thanks to high calcium content and heart health thanks to potassium.

Though we tend to think of it as a leafy green, it’s actually a cruciferous vegetable like cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower. And though it’s built a bit of a rep as only being for hardy healthy eaters, it just needs a bit of love and care to be a delicious crowd pleaser.

TIPS:

-  When using raw kale in salads, always remove the tough stalks first. This is a bit more fiddly if you buy pre-chopped kale (but 100% worth it)
-  Massaging kale helps to soften the leaves, making it so much more enjoyable. Just add chopped kale to a bowl with a little lemon juice, oil and salt and massage the kale with your hands for 10 seconds.  
-  Hate kale, love the benefits? Add a handful to a juice or smoothie with something sweet like banana or apple and you won’t even know it’s there.

Recipe:

METHOD

1. Cook quinoa in 3 cups of water with a pinch of salt until the water has evaporated. Turn off the heat and put lid on the pot, leave to stand for 5 mins. 

2. Pick the kale off the stalks and then wash and dry the leaves. In 3 batches put the kale leaves into a food processor until it’s coarsely chopped. 

3. Chop the tomatoes into small cubes, then finely slice spring onions and mix all ingredients together in a bowl (quinoa, kale, spring onions, tomatoes, lemon juice, lemon zest, olive oil and salt).

Best served with home made houmous and falafel

KALE TABBOULEH
Serves 6

INGREDIENTS

- 300g kale
- 2 cups white quinoa 
- 2 tomatoes
- 2 lemons juice + zest
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 bunch spring onion