Happy Kale Day! National Kale Day is celebrated the first Wednesday in October. LAUSD Food Services will be providing their middle schools with a kale recipe but you too can celebrate! Read below to learn more about this superfood and find recipes and resources to celebrate every day like it’s Kale Day!

Background

Kale, Brassica oleracea, has seen a surge in popularity in recent times but it does in fact have a long history. It was consumed by people living in the Mediterranean and Asia Minor (present day Turkey) since at least 2000 BC. Kale made it’s way westward through England and eventually the New World. In 1542, the first brassica was planted in Canada. By the 1700s brassicas were widespread in the colonies.

There are many types of kale, though we often provide Learning Gardens with curly kale, lacinato, and red Russian. This year we are providing Siberian kale which has more tender leaves than curly kale.

Kale Facts

• California grows the most kale in the country.
• Kale was the most common green vegetable in Europe during the middle ages.
• Kale is actually the same species, Brassica oleracea, as broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, collard greens, kohlrabi, and others! They all originated from the same wild cabbage.
• Kale and collards are variety acephala, meaning “without a head” to distinguish them from head-forming brassicas like cabbage and cauliflower.
• One cup of kale has 134% of your daily recommended Vitamin C (more than an orange!), 684% of your Vitamin K, 204% of your Vitamin A

Resources

• Make a recipe with your class: Sauteed Kale with White Beans, Learning Garden Slaw (no cook), Sauteed Kale with Lemon & Garlic, Kale Chips, Kale Pesto (no cook) –note, you can substitute for similar brassicas (collards, cabbage, etc.) in these recipes though cooking time may vary!
  • All Spanish recipes
• Watch our friends at Common Threads make a Chickpea & Kale Salad: video (5:34 run time, YouTube) or read the recipe (page 7)
• Learn how to to harvest kale (and chard) with our harvest video (1:15 run time, YouTube)

Source:

https://pss.uvm.edu/ppp/articles/cabbage.html

National Kale Day