Kids Can Love Kale Too!

Most kids do not like kale, but there are many ways us parents can get creative with kale. From the traditional veggies to serving as yummy desserts, kale can be an ingredient in many dishes.  Kale holds its texture well in cooking, and it can be steamed, stir fried, roasted, or eaten raw. You can turn it into smoothies, kale chips, wilt it into soup, mash it with potatoes or turn it into pesto. 

You may wonder, why go through all of these lengths to hide, I mean serve, our children kale.  Well kale is a nutrition superstar due to the high amounts of vitamins A, K, B6 and C, calcium, potassium, copper and manganese it contains.  Kale is also a member of the cruciferous vegetable family along with cauliflower, brussels sprouts, cabbage, broccoli. Many powerful antioxidants are found in kale including quercetin and kaempferol, which have numerous beneficial effects such as lowering blood pressure, anti-viral, anti-inflammatory, anti-depressant, anti-cancerous among others.  These are all great reasons to hide kale in our kid-friendly recipes.  Any boost to our immune systems is always a great thing.  

RECIPES

Please enjoy the two recipes below, one traditional recipe to prepare kale (plain sauteed kale) and one fun recipe (berry kale smoothie.)  

Berry Kale Smoothie

Ingredients:

10 oz. of non-diary milk 

½ cup of frozen blueberries

½ cup of frozen strawberries

1 ½ cup of baby kale

½ cup of frozen pineapples 

½ cup of bananas (if you want it thicker) 

Instructions:

1. Blend milk and kale until well blended. 

2. Add other ingredients and blend. 

3. Pour and serve

Sauteed Kale

Ingredients:

3 bunches of kale

2 cups of water

1 cup of high heat oil (coconut, grape seed, avocado)

1 tablespoon of pink Himalayan salt

¼ cup of white distilled vinegar

Instructions:

1. Use your hands to pull the kale leaves from their stems. (We remove the middle stem as it tends to be overly tough and imparts a more bitter taste when eaten.) Coarsely chop the leaves. Rinse them, but do not dry.

2. Pour in water and add kale a few handfuls at a time, stirring after each addition so that it starts to wilt, until all of the kale is added. 

3. Stir in the salt and oil. Cover and cook on a high heat, stirring occasionally, until the kale is just tender, about 20 minutes. 

4. Stir in the white vinegar, cover and let sit for 5 min.  It’s ready to serve!

VIDEO ALERT

Please click the video link to watch me prepare sauteed kale AND my kids enjoying it!!!