Should i eat kale stems

The vegetable hails from the cabbage family, which also includes broccoli, cauliflower, and collards. Kale is a warrior that fights against heart disease, cancer, inflammation and toxins. At 33 calories a cup, that is a really strong nutritional investment. We recommend Healthy Steaming kale for maximum nutrition and flavor. Fill the bottom of a steamer pot with 2 inches of water. While waiting for the water to come to a rapid boil chop greens.

Steam for 5 minutes and toss with our Mediterranean Dressingand top with your favorite optional ingredients. I sizzle a little garlic in the olive oil, then add the sliced stems and cook, stirring every minute or so, until they turn bright green.

Then I add a splash of water, about a quarter cup, and let that steam the stems as it reduces. Once that water has evaporated, taste the stems. If you want them to be more tender, add a bit more water. If you have time before you move onto the next step, do it. If not, you can skip it, but know you will be doing a little extra chewing.

Ready to get a little weird? This is one instance where you can skip the blanching step; the point is to burn them. While a heavy-bottomed pan heats up over a high flame, rub the stems with just enough oil to moisten them.

Don't put any fat in the pan—but do open a window before you begin. Cook the stems until they blacken dramatically "They should basically turn to ash," he explains. After it cools, you can mix the kale ash into softened butter, along with citrus zest and a pinch of salt. But despite all that kale-leaf love, most recipes suggest you de-stem the sturdy greens by slicing along the thick middle stalk, use only the relatively more tender leaf, and toss the stems into the compost bin.

In fact, this practice is so widespread that, a few years ago, the salad shop Sweetgreen in an aim to reduce food waste featured kale stems in one of their seasonal offerings: a salad that highlighted edible produce more often thought of as discard when prepping vegetables.

When I first heard of that Sweetgreen initiative, I was a bit surprised. Apparently not. That firmer middle section is usually tossed aside. Well, no more! Because for all their crunch, those stems are just as delicious as the leafy greens they bind together. And while it's true you might not want to use them in a raw massaged kale salad , they have tons of applications, and you can cook—or not cook—them in just as many ways.

Here are a few of our favorites:. And why stop with just the leaves? In fact, the stems have more fiber. So go ahead and toss them into a blender or juicer for your morning beverage or smoothie fix.