Baby Kale - Olivia's Organics (2024)

FAQs

Is organic baby kale good for you? ›

Kale is a nutritious food rich in antioxidants, vitamin C, vitamin K, and beta-carotene. It also contains nutrients that can support eye health, weight management, heart health, and more.

Comparing Baby Kale to Mature Kale

On the other hand, mature kale's tougher texture is ideal for cooking, as it holds up well in soups and stews. In terms of nutrition, both varieties are similar, though baby kale may be slightly less concentrated in nutrients due to its younger age.

Baby kale can add an earthy flavor to raw salad green mixes, or it can be juiced, wilted, fried, dehydrated, or sautéed. Try topping a flatbread or pizza with Baby kale, or incorporate it into braising greens to add a nutty yet sweet flavor.

Best for: Salads and smoothies

It's similar to curly kale in terms of appearance and taste, but its leaves are much smaller and thinner in texture — so you won't need to massage it as you would with curly kale, says Torchia. Because baby kale is so tender, it's great for eating raw (just like its cousin, red kale).

Kale provides more calcium and vitamin C per serving than spinach, whereas you will find more folate, vitamin A, and vitamin K in spinach than kale. Per cup, they contain a similar amount of fiber.

4 In addition, using a food-as-medicine approach and eating a diet rich in vegetables like kale, may help prevent and treat insulin resistance (when cells can't take up glucose from the blood, requiring the pancreas to make more insulin), inflammation, and more.

Plus, one study that compared eight kale cultivars found that Tuscan kale was highest in carotenoid compounds, including neoxanthin, lutein, and beta carotene, all of which have significant antioxidant activity (4). Unlike some other types of kale, lacinato is tender, which makes it ideal to use raw in salads.

Kale holds its texture well when cooked, and it can be steamed, stir-fried, roasted or eaten raw. You can blend it into smoothies, roast it to make kale chips, wilt it into soup, mash it with potatoes or turn it into pesto.

“Cancer studies seem to show that raw kale is more beneficial than cooked, while cholesterol studies seem to show that steamed kale is more beneficial than raw,” says Harris, who recommends a bit of both in your diet. But whatever you do, don't boil, saute or stir-fry the veggie too long or with too much added liquid.

It is well-known that kale (Brassica oleracea var. sabellica) is rich in vitamin C . But did you know kale is also packed with iron; about 1.5 to 1.9mg per 100g to be precise? Because of its high vitamin C content, kale facilitates iron absorption and is great source of beta-carotene and healthy mustard oils.

Does baby kale contain oxalates? ›

Kale and bok choy are nutrient-rich greens with just 2 milligrams and 1 milligram of oxalates per cup, respectively. Compared to almonds, nuts like cashews, peanuts, and walnuts have slightly lower levels of oxalates – about 30 milligrams per ounce.

Olivia's Organics Baby Kale offers all the flavor and nutritional benefits of its full-grown kale counterpart, but its leaves are more tender and it cooks more quickly. That makes it an ideal healthy addition to salads and cooked recipes as well as a standout side dish.

Russian Kale

Compared to other kale varieties, Russian kales are on the tenderer, milder, and sweeter side, making them an excellent and delicious green for salads and soups.

Younger kale tends to be less bitter and more tender than more mature leaves.

EWG claims to base that recommendation on data from the USDA's Pesticide Data Program (PDP), but a closer look at the actual data suggests a far different conclusion—that the kale in our food supply is quite safe and that there is not as big a difference between organic and conventional as they imply.

Turns out purple kale is even better than the green variety because it contains anthocyanins which are responsible for the purple colour (the same nutrient that blueberries and cranberries contain), which have even more powerful antioxidant properties.

“You can get plenty of nutrients in just 1-2 cups of raw kale,” Giles says. “There's not really a limit. However, it's best to get a variety of veggies throughout the day.” If you're on blood thinners or anticoagulant medication, you can still enjoy kale, but do it in a consistent manner.