kale: so much more than iguana food

During college, my husband's roommate had an iguana.  Jack.  He didn't do much (the iguana, not the roommate), but he did like to eat.  Kale, mostly.  So for the longest time, I thought of kale as nothing more than iguana food.  And I am not an iguana.

Not Jack. Though he did look a lot like this.

I would see kale in the corner of the Fred Meyer produce section and think - "Eh.  There's that iguana crap."  And I would move right on down to the corn on the cob.  Or the Russet potatoes.  I know, I know.

When I started this running journey in earnest, I decided that I needed to finally drop the rest of my baby weight so I could get lean and mean.  Which meant that I needed to learn how to eat.  I soon discovered that I was eating all wrong.  I used Sparkpeople like a mad woman, and finally got myself to where I wanted to be weight-wise, learning a lot about what I needed to do differently in the eating department.  All good, right?

And it was good for awhile, but then I started to want to run farther.  Faster.  I was reading blog after blog, noting that nutrition really seemed to be key in performance.  And that's when things started to get weird.

See, there are all kinds of crazy eating plans out there.  Paleo.  Raw.  Vegan.  Fruitarian.  (Seriously.)  But like religion, if you start breaking them down to their essential parts, there are some common themes.  Essential tenets.  And that's where I'm tiptoeing along right now.  Healthy food choices.  Balance.   Exploration.

So one day I put some of the iguana food in my basket.  You know what - it's pretty darn good.  And super kick butt healthy for you.  Not only does it have calcium, lutein, iron and Vitamins A, C, E & K, it has a bunch of beta-carotene and fiber.  If that isn't enough to convince you that should be eating iguana food too, consider that it forms sulforaphane when chewed. Why should you care about that?  Because sulforaphane triggers your liver to form enzymes to detoxify cancer-causing chemicals and helps stop breast cancer cell proliferation. Those iguanas are on to something.

"Kale is a nutritional superfood - it almost makes broccoli look like Doritos." - Precision Nutrition

There are many ways to eat kale.  My favorite at the moment is to use the leaves as a wrap, with some brown rice, red pepper, cucumber, avocado and miso mayo (that's the secret ingredient).  Yum.  And you feel like freaking superwoman after you eat that.  Kale is good sauteed with olive oil and balsamic vinegar too.  I will even throw it in a salad, though the leaves are a bit bitter.  Many people rave about kale chips as a substitute for potato chips.  I tried some, but I don't think I cooked them quite right.  I'll be trying those again.

So throw caution to the wind.  Eat like an iguana - your body will thank you for it.

I'm curious - what other superfoods do people love?  I'm realizing that I really know nothing about healthy cooking, and I would love your suggestions for recipes to try.