I have a confession to make, one that may be surprising considering my veggie-growing tendencies. There are lots of veggies I don't like. Zucchini, onions, eggplant, beets...I truly struggle to like them. It seems that as I've had kids, my tastes have gotten more kid-like. There's no veggies I enjoy more than a cool slice of cucumber, some cherry tomatoes, and a carrot stick. But it must be a skinny carrot stick, not a giant carrot because that feels like gnawing on a root (which I guess it is). And I have to admit that I've really discovered a love for real garden broccoli. But kale? Swiss chard? I read a facebook post the other day saying that both the poster and his child ate boiled chard and yuca fries for dinner, and I was massively impressed that the kid ate it, because I inwardly cringed! Not sure I could gag down boiled chard if you paid me. I think I'm more of a picky eater than I like to admit. And now that I'm dealing with pregnancy aversions again, the thing I seem to be developing a great dislike for is my Tiny Tim tomatoes! Sadness.
So I planted all this kale in spring with great plans to eat all these super-nutritious greens, and we had maybe one salad out of it. I tried throwing it in smoothies but it just didn't blend well, and the boys won't eat smoothies with chunks of weird green stuff. Can't say that I blame them! :) So a couple weeks ago I harvested a pound and a half of the leaves and tossed them in the dehydrator. I thought if I dehydrated and powdered it, I could still use it in smoothies but it might be a little bit less of an obstacle for the boys. I have to admit though, that I was surprised when a pound and a half of kale turned into this:
Oh well, at least I know now that a little bit of powder goes a LONG way!
Does anyone have any idea on the nutritional value of dried, pulverized kale? I know that nothing beats fresh, but does this at least come close?
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