Kale #1 with Golden Raisins

Kale is one of my favorite no-brain vegetables. Not because it isn’t good for your brain or you, no, but because I find it’s so easy to make it yummy that there isn’t a whole lot of thinking involved in figuring out how to prepare it.

In case you’re doubting me on the healthiness of kale, here are some facts:

One cup of kale contains 36 calories, 5 grams of fiber, and 15% of the daily requirement of calcium and vitamin B6 (pyridoxine), 40% of magnesium, 180% of vitamin A, 200% of vitamin C, and 1,020% of vitamin K. It is also a good source of minerals copper, potassium, iron, manganese, and phosphorus.
Kale’s health benefits are primarily linked to the high concentration and excellent source of antioxidant vitamins A, C, and K — and sulphur-containing phytonutrients.
Carotenoids and flavonoids are the specific types of antioxidants associated with many of the anti-cancer health benefits. Kale is also rich in the eye-health promoting lutein and zeaxanthin compounds.
In fact, researchers can now identify over 45 different flavonoids in kale. With kaempferol and quercetin heading the list, kale’s flavonoids combine both antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits in way that gives kale a leading dietary role with respect to avoidance of chronic inflammation and oxidative stress.
Beyond antioxidants, the fiber content of cruciferous kale binds bile acids and helps lower blood cholesterol levels and reduce the risk of heart disease, especially when kale is cooked instead of raw.

Now that’s quite a track record, don’t you think?

This time, I sweetened the deal with some golden raisins that I found hiding in my cupboard, it was just a little handful, had to be used up, as space can be at a premium around here, with all the different food things I want to try. And have you ever noticed how you can almost never find just enough for one meal, as in ‘just to try it’? Yep, so I end up with a whole box of this and a bag of that, barley couscous and mochiko (sweet rice flour) are prime examples of that. So using up and finishing up things always makes me feel good since I might get to try something else!

So simple, healthy and quick, here we go!

Feeds 2 as a side (around here though, I have been known to polish off a bunch of kale by myself, so use your judgement)

Ingredients

1tbs oil
1 bunch kale, washed and de-stemmed
1-2 tbsp golden raisins
1/2 cup water
salt to taste
1 tbsp cider vinegar

Directions:

Strip the leaves off of the stem (discard hard stems) and tear into smaller pieces if necessary. Wash and spin dry using a salad spinner
Heat the oil in a large skillet, then add the washed and torn kale leaves. Sprinkle some salt over top.
Add water and raisins and cover with a lid (even if the lid does not fit down onto the pan, juts balance it atop the kale)
Cook until the kale is soft and reduced in volume. 5-10 minutes. (This depends on the age of the kale plant: If you have fresh kale from your garden in the early spring, it will take a lot less than mid winter, kinda tough plants that overwintered in your garden)
Add cider vinegar, cover and cook another minute or two, then uncover and finish cooking until most of the liquid has evaporated.