I had never heard of kale prior to becoming vegetarian. And I hadn't knowingly tried it until a few months ago at the urging of a good friend. Mainly because I didn't know how to cook it, and I was too lazy to put much thought into it. Well, it turns out that kale is such a great vegetable, the British have decided to devote an entire website to our leafy friend (http://www.discoverkale.co.uk/).
Kale is part of the cabbage family, and is considered a "superfood", providing beta-carotene, vitamin C, and folate. In fact, kale is one of the vegetables most rich in calcium, iron, potassium, and magnesium. It also provides sulpher phytochemicals, which is thought to help protect against some cancers, as well as reducing the risk of cataracts and macular degeneration by way of providing the phytochemicals zeaxanthin and lutein.
As discoverkale.co.uk points out, kale contains four times more magnesium and five times more calcium than brussel sprouts! And really, who wants to eat brussel sprouts (unless you have had my sisters! That woman is an angel with brussel sprouts!). Kale also carries 17 times more vitamin C than carrots, and four times more than spinach. And that's just naming a few of the benefits!
Kale is easily introduced into ones diet. I'm gonna tell ya right now, remove the leaves from the stalk!!! It's really bitter. I don't care for it at all. I use kale almost on a daily basis. I have a juicer (which I highly recommend to anyone remotely interested in losing weight or getting healthy!) and I juice my daily servings of fruits & veggies (including kale) for breakfast and lunch. Kale is also great to just saute a bit with some other veggies, alone, or to have raw over a salad. I expect you to put kale on your grocery list! And let me know what you thought of our new friend.
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