While these classic winter vegetables were once considered poor people’s food, they have now also found their way into modern lifestyle kitchens. Most of the time, kale, which is also known as brown or kale kale in some regions of Germany, is only known when it is cooked. This vitamin bomb can also be eaten raw and is certainly not poisonous. Raw it can be combined with a wide variety of dishes, used as a side salad and processed into a delicious smoothie or chips.
Table of Contents
Also enjoyed raw, a real superfood
Kale is a vegetable that can rightly be called a superfood. This is mainly due to the fact that the nutrients and vital substances in these winter vegetables are particularly high. Not only does it outperform other types of vegetables, but also most other types of cabbage by far. What makes kale so valuable are high-quality protein, numerous amino acids, omega-3 fatty acids, fiber, calcium, potassium, magnesium, sodium and iron as well as vitamins, minerals and secondary plant substances.
The kale season begins after the first frost and lasts into March. Now it can be harvested and its leaves enjoyed fresh from the stalk or processed accordingly. Consumption raw, in particular, has significant advantages over preparation during cooking.
Benefits of eating raw
As with most vegetables, raw consumption is particularly recommended for brown cabbage. This is mainly due to the fact that water-soluble vitamins and minerals are washed out during cooking and disposed of with the cooking water, they are lost. The heat also destroys some heat-sensitive vitamins such as vitamin C. They can then no longer be used by our body. Anyone who really values the preservation of the valuable ingredients should definitely prefer raw consumption to cooked food.
When to harvest kale
- It is best to grow green or brown cabbage in your own garden
- Fresh enjoyment is possible over several weeks
- Kale season begins after the first frost
- Harvest three to five months after sowing
- usually from October / November to February / March
- Sowing should be done in June at the latest
- nothing stands in the way of a winter harvest
- Most of all vegetables cannot tolerate frost
- The harvest must therefore take place before the first frost
- the opposite is the case with kale
- he should get frost at least once
- Lignite is almost insensitive to cold or frost
Frost means that the cabbage gets its typical taste. In addition, it ensures a loose leaf structure, which makes it easier to digest. For a one-time harvest, the plants can be pulled out of the ground and the leaves can be wiped off with your hands. However, if you want to harvest several times, you leave the plants and strip the leaves from the outside in. After that, the outer leaf layer usually grows back again, so that harvesting can normally take place again.
What to look for when buying cabbage
Those who do not have their own garden or who find it too laborious to grow can also buy kale at the appropriate time of year. Then there are a few things to consider. First you should make sure that the leaves are still intensely green and look and feel fresh and crisp. If possible, they should not yet have any yellow or brown edges.
It is best to rely on organic goods. In contrast to discounter goods, these should not usually be contaminated with pesticide residues. If the freshly purchased cabbage cannot or should not be processed immediately, it is best to store it in the refrigerator for a while. Here it stays fresh for up to five days.
Conclusion
Brown cabbage is an extremely rich and therefore healthy vegetable. It contains many valuable ingredients in particularly high concentrations, which makes it a real power vegetable. In addition, it has a healing effect, which incidentally was already known in ancient times. And if it is consumed raw, all important ingredients are retained.
