Discovering Kale

Hello readers! It has been a while since my last post and I apologize if I have kept any of you waiting for clean eating tips. I could come up with an excuse such as finals and being swapped with work but the truth is, I was just lazy. However, I still was able to eat clean and along the journey, I FINALLY discovered kale. It all started when I went to Central Market with my mother to order Thanksgiving sides. Among other things, this delicious kale salad was an item that I picked. Needless to say, I feel in love with it. Of course, once I got back home I made my own substitution...and then some!

Green Juice
1 cup of kale
1 cup of frozen mangoes
1 mug of green tea (that has been heated and chilled)
Blend until a juicy consistency has been reached

My version (note, not all ingredients were for the salad)
1 bunch of kale - .98c
1 cucumber .58c
1 avocado - .50c
1 small package of walnuts (from the baking aisle)  - $1.14
1 pack of cherry tomatoes - $1.44
1 pouch of blueberry Craisens - $1.88
Total - $6.52
With salmon - an additional  $1.00 per fillet

Of course, I have always heard of kale and knew that like all green leafy vegetables, it was a "super food" that had many antioxidant and nutritional properties. I think the one thing that always stopped me from trying it was the fact that it looked disgusting. Honestly, it looked like it had no taste or that it tasted like dead leaves. I know that taste is the main reason why people don't eat their vegetables so I decided that I had to get over the irrational 'fear.' To my surprise, kale does not taste all that bad. Actually, it taste delicious when paired with other things. In my opinion, unlike spinach or romaine lettuce where the taste is muted and more sweet without the aid of dressings or additional toppings, kale needs to be in something. Literally. One good thing about kale is that 1 cup of this green leaf has 5% of your daily need of protein and over 130% of your need of Vitamin A and Vitamin C. Topped with cucumber, walnuts, and avocados then you have a delicious and cheap salad that is full of lean protein, healthy fats, vitamins, and nutrients. Of course, you don't have to go as fancy as the Central Market version (you don't even have to go as fancy as mines). If you just want to add tomatoes and cucumbers, then you are still coming in at $3.00 for a basket of salad ingredients, which can easily be divided into four or more portions, coming in at a total .75c a salad. Either way you add it up, kale packs a great nutritional value at a cheap price.

-Eating Clean in College