By Melanie Gulliver

This month I’m encouraging all of you to look out for kale (chou frisée) in your greengrocers or local market. Kale is becoming more available in Southern France and Monaco due to it’s superfood benefits - similar to broccoli and cabbage as part of the brassica family of vegetables it is one of the most nutrient dense foods on the planet and loaded with powerful antioxidants.

But what can you actually do with kale apart from a salad?

Here are two super simple recipes which you can add to your apéro repertoire, and boost your health at the same time.

Gua-kale-mole

2-3 large kale leaves, stalk removed
2 large ripe- even mushy- avocados
Juice of 1 lime
1/4 cup red onion
1 tomato
1/2 clove garlic
1 or more slices jalapeño pepper- as spicy as you like
2 tbspn coriander/ cilantro
a shake of cumin powder and some salt

Use half the lime juice to massage the kale leaves for a couple of minutes to soften a bit.
Put the kale leaves in a food processor and whizz until they are broken down.
Add all the other ingredients and whizz until you have the desired consistency.
Enjoy with corn chips or crudités.

Kale Chips

Heat the oven to 170C.

Tear large bite sized pieces of kale from the stalks and add to a bowl. Add a drizzle of olive or coconut oil to the kale, sprinkle with salt and some garlic powder and mix well with your hands. Spread the kale in an ovenproof dish and cook in the oven for around 10-15 minutes. Keep an eye on the kale as it will crisp up but then burn very quickly.

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Melanie Gulliver is the Clever Chef and a Director of The Clever Kitchen, a local company delivering organic nutritious wholefood meals to Monaco and along the Cote d'Azur, and holding regular nutrition workshops in Monaco and Nice.  Melanie takes orders for custom cakes and events as well.

Contact details:

www.theclever.kitchen

Melanie@theclever.kitchen, +33 (0)6 15 21 63 53
FB: facebook.com/thecleverkitchen1
Instagram: @tck.delivery and @thecleverkitchen