A book to read that ends with kale!

I don't think I've ever made a book recommendation on my kale blog, but here's a great book to read.  I won't tell you too much because I don't want to take away from both the pleasure and heart-ache of reading it yourself.

The title is Turn Here – Sweet Corn: Organic Farming Works by Atina Diffley, University of Minnesota Press, 2012.

I've already recommended it to a dozen friends.

The book is not about kale per se but ends with a kale recipe that I've made myself, without a recipe, over and over again!

Sesame Kale - makes 2-4 servings depending on appetite and level of kale passion

1 bunch of organic kale, thick stems removed and coarsely chopped
1-4 cloves garlic, minced: adjust according to your taste and social life (haha! we would easily use the 4 - or more - cloves of garlic!)
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1/4 cup water
roasted sesame oil
ume plum vinegar (or red wine vinegar or vinegar of your choice)

Heat olive oil in heavy pan. Saute garlic for 20-30 seconds, do not brown or burn! Mix in chopped kale. Add water and cover. Steam on low for 5-10 minutes, until desired tenderness (I always use the lesser of times to keep the kale as green and crisp as possible). Spread on a platter, sprinkle with roasted sesame seed oil and vinegar to taste (I often also sprinkle some sesame seeds over the kale).

As said by a friend of the author, "You could eat gravel with roasted sesame oil on it." I laughed out loud! What a great way to end the book. Try this recipe and read the book. :)

Where kale is more than decoration on my plate!

Diana Dyer, MS, RD

Springtime quotes!

When I go into the garden with a spade, and dig a bed 

I feel such an exhilaration and health

that I discover that I have been defrauding myself all this time 

in letting others do for me what I should have done with my own hands. 

~~ Ralph Waldo Emerson 

"In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt."

~~ Margaret Atwood

I hope you can get out there to plant some kale and other cool weather Brassica vegetables!

Where kale is more than decoration on my plate,

Diana Dyer, MS, RD

Go get some!

I'm so glad I was 'pushed' into joining Facebook. Otherwise, I would have missed this great photo from Koetsiers Greenhouse in Grand Rapids, Michigan!

Oh wow, talk about eye-candy. :) Too funny and so lovely!

Kale never looked so good. :)

Go get some! You can decide which I am talkin' about!

Where kale is more than decoration on my plate!

Diana Dyer, MS, RD

Kale for Breakfast

Yep, and not just in a smoothie. Here's a great article in annarbor.com written by Kim Bayer, a friend of mine, in which she writes about starting her days this winter eating her own or locally-grown kale for breakfast.

What's not to love with an article like this?! (big smile)

However what I really love (even more than Kim's shout-out to this blog) is her comment that 'food is healthcare, medicine is sick care.' Thank you, Kim, for giving this awareness a much deserved shout-out. How true. I've been saying words to this effect for years and years now in one way or another.

I also like to give shout-outs to all of our local farmers who grow healthy food to feed their own communities because I view them as being a community's true front-line health care providers. I don't know how many of them see themselves in this light, but I do. If you are not growing all of your own healthy food (and I'm not), please thank your farmers for all the hard work they are doing in order to keep you healthy! I try to remember to do this every time I buy something from them at the farmers' markets.

I also found it interesting that Kim notes in this article that she hasn't had a cold all winter long this year. Neither have I, which of course could be due to all the kale (and other Brassica vegetables) that Kim and I each eat. However, I also see that Kim mentions she adds fresh garlic to her kale each morning, so maybe there is more than one thing going on here. Point of fact, while I don't eat garlic for breakfast on a regular basis, I do eat garlic on a daily basis in one form or another. And I just happen to know Kim's local garlic farmers and know just how great their garlic tastes, which is enough for me to recommend eating garlic daily, starting at breakfast and continuing throughout the day.

When you start your day with great tasting healthy food, great health is sure to follow, which sounds like a beautiful way to start your day.

Where kale is more than decoration on my plate (and Kim's too!),

Diana Dyer, MS, RD

Friends, with benefits!

Another great kale poster going around on Facebook these days. I could not have said it better myself!

Let me add that all of kale's relatives listed on the right side of this blog can also easily be added to your 'new best friend' list, complete with benefits. :)

A friend who shared this poster with me said it originally came from a website called Juice up your life (dot) tv. (Please note that I am only endorsing kale as a food, not this website. I am skeptical of websites which require you to 'sign in' before seeing anything, even contact info.) 

I'll be heading down to our farmers' market on Saturday morning because I am out of kale (even eating everything that I had frozen). Fresh is always best, and how lucky we are now to have farmers growing kale and other delicious greens nearly all winter long. I hope you are so lucky where you live, too. :)

Where kale is my friend, with benefits, i.e. much more than just decoration on my plate!

Diana Dyer, MS, RD

Blog cited in The Farmer's Almanac Gardening Guide!

The Harris' Farmer's Almanac 2013 Seasonal Gardening Guide (#46) is on the newsstands and includes an article about kale and my kale blog. Whoa! I was interviewed last September for this article and never thought about it again until I got a copy of the Guide in the mail yesterday from the writer Barbara Delbol. Thanks Barbara!

Two recipes from this blog are highlighted, including my husband's (locally) famous Kale Slaw, and Garlic Kale Sweet Potato Soup, a very popular recipe on this blog that was developed by the Registered Dietitians at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ann Arbor, MI. 

I cannot find a link on the web to this Guide, so I guess you'll need to hop out to your local newsstand to pick up a copy.  

I wonder if kale is ever used "just" as decoration on a plate anymore? 

Diana Dyer, MS, RD

The Kale Love Just Keeps on Going!

I'm not sure exactly who created this poster, but I first saw this great shout-out for kale on the Facebook page for Selma Cafe, a non- profit organization in Ann Arbor, Michigan that raises money through a weekly local foods breakfast salon to offer micro loans to family farms in our community to build four-season hoop houses in order to help grow the local food shed.

What's not to love?! Thanks, Selma Cafe for all you do! 

And yes, 'I heart Kale!'

Where kale is more than decoration on my plate, 

Diana Dyer, MS, RD