Savoury Keto cake can come in all sorts of variations. However, would you expect it with cruciferous vegetables? Many Ketonians are struggling to take their 7 cups of vegetables per day while many Keto health evangelists recommend it! Doing Keto properly means having loads of vegetables, but we know that preparing them can be as boring as eating them. Especially when it comes to cruciferous veggies, you often end up steaming them or tossing them in a sauce.
Savoury Keto cake twist
This quick recipe will give you new ideas and inspiration. Now, I know that in all parts of our planet cruciferous vegetables don’t come in the same shape or taste. However, you can play and use just about any of your favourite vegetables. For this specific recipe, I chose European Kale as a base and added Swiss chard and leak for the extra taste.
Almighty Kale came from Croatia!
Did you know that Kale has more vitamin C than most fruits? This is an extremely important advantage for those of you who like to include it raw in your smoothies. When cooked, kale still preserves many nutrients and it’s way easier to digest. Another fun fact, as I am writing this from Croatia, according to Wikipedia, you’ll have to thank Croatia, for having Kale in the USA!
The name might originate from Croatian word “kelj“. In fact, Roman Emperor Diocletian who resided in Split, had a passion for growing cabbage and especially kale! Maybe thanks to him, kale became popular all over Croatia and this lead to its popularisation in the USA. Of course, this happened after the botanist David Fairchild brought it and introduced it to Canada and the USA!
Wikipedia on Kale
Kale originated in the eastern Mediterranean and Asia Minor, where it was cultivated for food beginning by 2000 B.C. at the latest.[3] Curly-leaved varieties of cabbage already existed along with flat-leaved varieties in Greece in the fourth century BC. It was also used as medicinal food source. Disocorides wrote that it could be used to treat bowel ailments.[4] These forms, which were referred to by the Romans as Sabellian kale, are considered to be the ancestors of modern kales.
The earliest record of cabbages in western Europe is of hard-heading cabbage in the 13th century.[3] Records in 14th-century England distinguish between hard-heading cabbage and loose-leaf kale.[3]
[3]USDAbotanistDavid Fairchild is credited with introducing kale (and many other crops) to Americans,[5][6] having brought it back from Croatia,[6] although Fairchild himself disliked cabbages, including kale.[6] At the time, kale was widely grown in Croatia mostly because it was easy to grow and inexpensive, and could desalinate soil.[6] For most of the twentieth century, kale was primarily used in the United States for decorative purposes; it became more popular as an edible vegetable in the 1990s due to its nutritional value.[6]
Diocletian palace in Split
At the Kale emperor’s palace
City of Split, Croatia
A quick overview of Kale nutritional benefits
Kale is one of the most nutrient-dense vegetables available to humans today. Thank you, Emperor Diocletian! It contains Vitamins A, K, C, B6, B1, B2, B3, Manganese, Calcium, Copper, Potassium, Magnesium, Iron, phosphorus… It even contains the mighty Omega-3 fatty acids. Including more kale in your everyday diet can greatly boost your immune system, fix gastro-intestinal problems and improve your general health. You can read more about Kale benefits here.
Let’s get to our Savoury Keto cake
Savoury Keto cake
Ingredients
- 4 cups kale finely chopped
- 3 cups swiss chard finely chopped
- 1 cups leek finely chopped
- 8 tbsp olive oil
- 4 tbsp lemon juice
Souffle mixture
- 400 g (2 cups) sour cream
- 4 large eggs free-range
- 1/2 tsp flower of sea salt
Spices
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp black, white and red pepper mix freshly ground
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley finely chopped
- 1 tsp red paprika powder
Instructions
- Wash and finely chop all the vegetables. Place them in a deep pot, add water to cover them, then add salt, and bring it to a boil. Remove from the heat and leave the vegetables in hot water for 5 minutes.
- Strain the vegetables and season them with all the spices. Place them in a deep baking pan and pour olive oil and lemon juice all over.
- Bake the vegetables in the oven for 10 minutes at 150ºC (302ºF). In the meantime, mix the eggs with sour cream and flower of sea salt.
- Pour the egg and cream mixture all over the vegetables and bake for another 15 minutes.
- Before cutting the cake, let it cool down halfway. Combine it with fish or meat, or alternatively have it as the main dish with the addition of goat cheese.
