Kale pesto

Kale pesto can be made in ten-minutes if you're like Jack; nimble and quick. Should the family eat this regularly it will go a long way to saving them from the dreaded misery that is macular degeneration; and cataracts too.

It's also the cure for that other misery; chronic constipation. But too much of a good thing gives the wife diarrhoea.

That's easy to say but just read the convincing research lower down.

Pesto is traditionally made with sweet-basil and pine nuts. Today we do something different. It is just as tasty but has rather other benefits; both are good.

Pesto lunch.

Ingredients

  • Two large bunches of young-kale
  • 2 TBSP freshly-cracked pecan nuts
  • 1/4 cup grated Parmesan or other cheese
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • 1 peppadew or slither of chili
  • 1 good slosh of extra virgin olive-oil
  • 1 segment of whole-lemon or lime

Go for it

  1. Strip the kale-leaves from the stalks.
  2. Drop into boiling-water for 2 minutes.
  3. Drain and pop into a tall-bowl.
  4. Add the garlic, peppadew and olive-oil.
  5. Add the cheese, lemon and nuts.
  6. Blend but not too smooth.
Kale pesto green leaves.

If you have very young kale then you can certainly bypass cooking them which really is the more traditional way. But that's unlikely unless you grow them yourself. By all means drop in a few sweet basil leaves, spinach or beet-tops too.

Kale pesto ingredients.

Better still use many different kinds of kale; we have five growing at our green-home.

I make no apology for freshly-cracked nuts. Yes, it will take you five or ten minutes. Once that shell is broken and oxygen gets to the oils they start to go rancid. You know, that horrid smell when you open a packet from the shop.

Kale pesto ingredients ready to be blended.

We push hard to eat at least ten different coloured foods every day simply because the research is so strong that they dramatically reduce the all-cause of death. The quantity is not important to us, so just a sprig of parsley would count for one.

In our kale pesto there are five different varieties, not all seen in the photo; I have also added a leaf of spinach and another beet-top. There are nuts, peppadews and lemon pulp; it is not onerous to achieve ten coloured foods in a day, or even more.

Dark-green leafy vegetables are so important for many reasons, not least a carotenoid called lutein; it is transported exclusively to the retina of the eye where it absorbes the damaging high energy photons of light. Talk to anyone with Macular Degeneration and you'll find they are on a prescription for it; too late, cried he. Prevention remains for ever better than a cure.

Over five million Americans are needlessly blind, and many more are partially sighted because they abhor dark-green leafy vegetables[1]. Lutein helps prevent cataracts and glaucoma too.

"Greater carotenoid levels in the macular pigment were largely associated with improved visual performance in glaucomatous eyes."

- Nutrients. June, 2021

Other phytochemicals are necessary too in the prevention of adult-onset macular degeneration, the most common cause of blindness in the elderly; notably zeaxanthin[2] and the oleocanthal found only in extra virgin olive oil.

Vitamin E[3], omega 3 fatty acids[4] and dopamine are important too; freshly-cracked nuts are a good source.

Making a probiotic such as sauerkraut or kefir has a high priority at our green home for happy tums[6]. The friendly bugs in the colon are an important source of dopamine.

Your kale pesto is to my mind just one of dozens of condiments such as hummus or this lentil dish that can make a green salad rather more interesting. And of course use as many different coloured-vegetables as possible; tomatoes, orange peppers and grated beets all add not only to the nutrition but to create an attractive meal too.

In broad bean season this kale pesto goes particularly well with our favourite legume; it's interesting that, quite independently, all those living in the five Blue Zones[7] of the world, where longevity is the key-word, grow and eat them.

Usually you will find that olive oil and lemon are amongst the chief ingredients; added to your kale pesto they turn it into a veritable medicine-chest of prevention. One of them is sulforaphane for diabetics.

Lemon juice

I almost never use lemon juice; that's odd I hear you thinking. It is because more than half of the goodies are found in the whole-pulp.

So lemon pulp is used in our cooking every single day. Citrus is the richest source of vitamin C and a very interesting phytonutrient called limonin[5]. Few conditions frighten me more than Alzheimer's disease.

Citrus in general is the best source of beta-cryptoxanthin; the most important phytonutrient in the fight against senility.

Nuts and seeds

Nuts, seeds and whole grains too are rich sources of very important phytonutrients called lignans; they protect women from malignant breast tumours and all of us from cardiovascular disease.

What are lignans explains this complex subject for the layperson; nuts, seeds and whole grains all have a place in our top 7 functional foods for optimal health[8].

Find a place for them in your condiments such as this kale pesto too.

French onion and blue cheese wholegrain quiche

Adding French onions to the kale and blue cheese quicheThe kale lurks unseen beneath

You really have to dicky up some very important foods that are lack-lustre; kale is one of them. Bake this French onion and blue cheese wholegrain quiche for a low GI dinner in a jiffy. You could use spinach.

Kale pesto

Kale pesto is for the well-being of many parts of the body but especially the eyes.

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Newsletter

Our newsletter is entitled "create a cyan zone" at your home, preserving both yourself and Mother Earth for future generations; and your family too, of course. We promise not to spam you with daily emails promoting various products. You may get an occasional nudge to buy one of my books.

Here are the back issues.

  • Investing in long-term health
  • Diseases from plastic exposure
  • Intensive lifestyle management for obesity has limited value
  • A world largely devoid of Parkinson's Disease
  • The impact of friendly bacteria in the tum on the prevention of cancer
  • There's a hole in the bucket
  • Everyone is talking about weight loss drugs
  • Pull the sweet tooth
  • If you suffer from heartburn plant a susu
  • Refined maize meal and stunting
  • Should agriculture and industry get priority for water and electricity?
  • Nature is calling
  • Mill your own flour
  • Bake your own sourdough bread
  • Microplastics from our water
  • Alternative types of water storage
  • Wear your clothes out
  • Comfort foods
  • Create a bee-friendly environment
  • Go to bed slightly hungry
  • Keep bees
  • Blue zone folk are religious
  • Reduce plastic waste
  • Family is important
  • What can go in compost?
  • Grow broad beans for longevity
  • Harvest and store sunshine
  • Blue zone exercise
  • Harvest and store your rainwater
  • Create a cyan zone at your home

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