Can anything compare to kale?

[trugoddess]

As you may have noticed by reading my posts, I LUV raw kale salad. I eat it almost daily and enjoy it each time. Is there another mild leafly green that I can substitute for the kale. I'd like to mix it up a bit, but have found other greens like turnips, mustards and collards to be too strong. Even chard doesn't have the magic of kale. Any recommendations? If not, i suppose I'll keep with the kale until I overdose on it (lol).

[juliebove]

What about lettuce or cabbage? Maybe Raddichio or Endive? I prefer a mix of assorted things.

[zig_zag]

I have had WONDERFUL success at masking the taste of collard greens via "collard greens wraps". You can create your own recipe, but my rough staples are: shredded carrot, mixed baby lettuce leaves, NORI SEAWEED (!!), cucumber, and various sprouts.... I fill the collard greens with my chosen contents, wrap it up like a burrito, and then dip it in flax oil or braggs.... It's amazing... I crave these things:p

[Aleesha Sattva]

i love to mix my kale with collards... it's GREAT. give it a try. no need to leave out your kale... i'm the kale queen after all (as my raw friend calls me LOL)... i add kale to everything!

[zig_zag]

ps. Trugoddess- do you marinate it, or eat it plain? I'm always curious as to how people can just eat kale in replacement of lettuce leaves... Isn't it just too bitter and... chewy??

[trugoddess]

Zig Zag, I marinate the kale in a dressing made of balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, agave nectar, olive oil and liquid aminos to taste. I blend the dressing in my blender then pour it over the greens. Usually it takes a couple of hours for the flavors to fully blend.

[Aleesha Sattva]

i marinate my kale in olive oil, apple cider vinegar and salt... rub it together really well... let it sit for 5 minutes and PIG OUT!!! mmm mmm gooooooooooooooooooooood

[paulieGB]

Isn't spinach a good choice or even better than kale ?
Spinach is a complete protein, and kale is not.

Paulie.

[Rawkincake]

I have always heard kale is king of the greens. I love hearing yalls suggestions on how to eat it! I never can figure out how to eat it raw besides in a smoothie!

[Zuri]

Isn't spinach a good choice or even better than kale ?
Spinach is a complete protein, and kale is not.

Paulie.

It tastes very good chopped up and marinated too!

[Arky]

Given the choice between spinach or kale (though of course, in real life, I eat both! :) ), I'd choose spinach for taste but kale for nutrition, so kale would inevitably win the contest.

Spinach is very nutritions but it contains a lot of oxalic acid which, paradoxically, impedes mineral absorption.

Kale, for it's part, does not have the oxalic acid issues, so mineral absorption is not particularly impeded. It is also considered to be a good deal higher in minerals such as calcium, which one needs to work at to consume sufficiently.

However, kale is not perfect - it is considered to be goiterogenic if consumed in excessive quantities, so it is sensible to consume sea vegetables regularly (for the iodine content) if you wish to consume huge amounts of kale and not put your thyroid out of balance. This is nothing to fear or fret about; it's just something to be aware of, and to listen to your body, rather than ignore it, if you begin to experience subtle symptoms that may suggest the beginning of thyroid imbalance. I've personally never had any problems with the goiterogenic nature of the brassica family (of which kale is a member), and I consume various brassicas daily.

I would point out, however, that it is not generally considered to be a healthy habit to consume any one individual food to excess, be it bananas, kale, wheatgrass juice, or whatever - I would definitely recommend, therefore, that you try to vary your diet a little more, skipping the kale every few days, to give you the best possible chance of tip-top health (and I do appreciate that that may be the reason you began this thread in the first place, unless it was just intended as a eulogy to kale!)


J.

[RawSinger]

I don't think that spinach is a complete protein. I also heard that the nutrients in spinach lie dormant until it's cooked so supposedly eating raw spinach isn't as healthy as we think it is. I didn't mean to rain on someone's parade here, but is this true?

[cayenne]

Have you tried dandelion greens? They are on the same group as kale, with chard, beet greens, water cress, spinach (high sodium, high calcium). They are bitter, but they will make a good addition to your salads. I LOVE them.

[cara4art]

I love kale, especially the dinosaur or lacinato variety, but the regular, cheaper on is excellent as well. Love this in the classic kale salad, and also as part of my green smoothies. What I do is loosely chop up enough parsley, spinach and kale for 3 days worth of smoothies and put it in a plastic bag - that way it is ready to go in the am. for those smoothies, or for putting into salads. Good stuff! But really, IMO one can spread the love around with dark greens in general - they're all good!