Madison life - health-tips - Health Buzz: The ‘anti-aging’ vegie you need to eat

It was legendary dermatologist (turned-skincare-brand) Dr Nicholas Perricone who first alerted us to the anti-ageing wonders of the dark leafy green known as kale. After several years of fruitless (vegetable-less?) searching for kale in this country, it suddenly seems as though it’s popping up everywhere. Lately, we’ve noticed the glamorously ruffled leaves making appearances at farmers’ markets, in cook books and in health food shops (in the form of the super-yummy Loving Earth Kale Chips – you can buy them here); We even spotted kale at Woolworths, within a bagged salad mix - surely that’s a sign that kale’s on the verge of mainstream status.

So we figured it was time to start taking the vegetable seriously. Here’s what we discovered … kale is a member of the cruciferous family of veggies. Think cauliflower, broccoli and cabbage. All so-named because of the cross-like shape of their four-petal flowers (cruciferae means cross-bearing in Latin). While green is its usual guise, kale also comes in black and red hues. Nutrition-wise, kale is a powerhouse of vitamins (A, C and K) and other nutrients (copper, potassium, manganese, iron); it also contains lutein, said to help protect the eyes, and antioxidant-rich flavonoids (because, as we all know, a modern girl can never get enough antioxidants).

While raw-food health types swear by kale as an essential ingredient in their system-cleaning early-morning ‘green smoothies’, kale is most fun when cooked. What we love about cooking kale is that, unlike say spinach, it retains its frilly texture. It’s a pretty treat in a simple stir-fry, but we also love making crispy kale bits that can be eaten on their own, or mixed into salads; to do so, remove the stems, rip into pieces, coat in oil and a spicy mix of salt and chilli powder, then oven-bake until crunchy. We’re hard-pressed to find a more delicious way to get our fix of greens.

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