Ray McVinnie’s winter warm-up meals

The health benefits and big flavours of greens like kale, Swiss chard and cavolo nero can get lost in all the trendy hype. Megan Wood shares how to store, prep and cook them to perfection.

It turns out that our parents were onto something when they berated, bribed and nagged us to eat our spinach. Research consistently shows that green, leafy vegetables are one of the most nutritious food sources on the planet. We are no longer simply satisfied with mushy, over-cooked spinach though, modern cooks want variety, they want a challenge. The challenge has been presented by the soaring popularity of greens such as kale, Swiss chard and cavolo nero. Packed with nutrients these three super greens should be on the side of almost every meal we make but they rarely are, because it takes some patience, know-how and a little finesse to work with their natural bitterness and rough texture to make something delicious. We show you how to get the most out of these green Goliaths.

SWISS CHARD

Like many others I grew up despising silverbeet. The bitter leaves were blandly forced upon me by well-meaning parents, focused more on getting me to eat something that wasn’t white, than they were on fostering a love of this contentious leafy-green. Like many things that are good for us, silverbeet has gone through a bit of a makeover with many food blogs and chefs now referring to is as chard, Swiss chard or, the more colourful variety, as rainbow chard. These days, whether it is the subtle name change or just a more mature palette, I adore chard. It helps that is is so easy to grow, last winter it was the only thing I didn’t kill and I added the nutritious leaves to everything from soup to pizza.

KALE

Kale packs a mighty nutritional punch. Kale is a good source of vitamin A, C and K and is packed full of antioxidants. Eating a diet high in vitamin K, mainly found in leafy greens, can help protect against various cancers. It’s also an important vitamin for a wide variety of bodily functions including normal bone health and the prevention of blood clotting. Kale is also rich in vitamin A, essential for healthy vision and skin. If you weren’t already convinced by the benefits of including kale in your diet, it is also good source of sulphur and fibre both of which are essential for a healthy bowel and liver.

Portuguese kale soup

Serves 4 1 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp butter

1 onion, finely chopped

5-7 garlic cloves, crushed in 1 tsp

sea salt

2 large agria potatoes, peeled

and diced

5 cups chicken stock, hot

3 bay leaves

1 large bunch kale or cavolo nero

leaves, finely shredded

1 chorizo sausage, sliced and fried

to serve

1 sprinkle lemon zest, for serving 1 dash extra virgin olive oil, to serve Cornbread, to serve 1 Heat 1 Tbsp each of olive oil and butter, then gently fry onion and garlic crushed in sea salt. Stir in diced potato and cook 5 minutes.

2 Add hot chicken stock and bay leaves and simmer 15-20 minutes until potatoes are soft, mashing them lightly into the stock as you go. Add the finely shredded kale leaves and simmer for 5 minutes until tender.

3 Season and serve with slices of fried chorizo, a little lemon zest a swirl of good olive oil and cornbread.