Swiss Chard, collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens, beet greens. These are all delicious, nutritious and very respectable collection of dark leafy greens. So why aren’t they not getting as much attention as kale?
Ok, I love leafy green veggies just as much as the next greens loving person, but you might think there were no other dark green lovelies available. Actually there are no fewer that six varieties in some stores like Whole Foods. But taking up prime real estate, front and center is kale. Always nudging out the other greens competing for attention in the produce section.
Here in Los Angeles it is unescapable as we are inundated by new eateries, food trucks, and high end restaurants and cafe’s with every version of a raw kale salad imaginable. You might even see it on a fast food burger or two like McDonalds.
Over the last few years, Kale has weaved itself into our daily smoothies and juice drinks, soups, pasta dishes, snack chips, cocktails, and yes even desserts like Kale chocolate, Kale popcorn, and Kale soda. Yuck!. You can even get a Kale facial.
Like style, food goes in and out of fashion.
Supply and demand show the steady increase of sales up almost 50% from 2010 and Kale related products up another 42% in just the last 2 years. The price of Kale has gone up about 3% since 2014.
I remember when spinach was the king of leafy greens and it was in everything. The wilted spinach salad with bacon vinaigrette was a high end restaurant staple but has since gone out of fashion. And it was the first to be used for green juicing. (See the best recipes here.)
It’s a shame that food and healthy eating has to be fashionable for people to take notice of what’s good for them. Instead, be more adventurous in your choices by selecting from the rainbow of what earths bounty has to offer.
So, If you’re eating kale to be more healthy, it will be an easy choice to start eating a diet more plant based with a variety of fruits and veggies. Let’s not forget about those sprouts and herbs.
Here’s the lowdown on leafy green nutrition.
Researchers analyzed the nutritional content of 47 fruits and vegetables and ranked them according to how much fiber, protein, potassium, and vitamins and minerals they contain.
So according to the chart , watercress and chinese cabbage come out on top with way more nutritional value than kale. Parsley is dead center and showing up in more cold pressed juices as well as romaine. It’s good to know that all of these green goddess’ can be found in your local grocery store , except maybe for chicory which is more popular in the southern regions. Still, there is plenty for us to choose from.
I’m gonna go fix me a salad now.
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