hail kale

~ our Tuscan Kale plants are quickly winding down now, however, I still keep picking the lower leaves even though the tops of the plants are turning to seed.

Recent pickings 

We bought our first lot of Kale as seedlings, however, the time of year was too warm and, well, put it this way, the white butterflies were our friends forever!  A bit disheartened we just left the plant stalks be.  Winter arrived and our Kale came back to life and we've been back and back again, picking the leaves. The chooks go crazy for it too.  That's the trouble with buying seedlings - they're not raised for local conditions oftentimes. However, in time, Mother Nature always sorts things out :D
Anyway, the Kale was a first experience for us after listening to Peter Cundall of Gardening Australia rave on about it in his inimitable way.
It certainly makes a casserole very hearty - a lovely rich taste but not overpowering.  This week I used a huge (probably a man-size) handful of chopped Kale in my all-in-together-boys Vegie Soup. Turned out great, and again, the flavour didn't take over the whole show.
One thing I like to do though is remove the spines of the larger leaves, they can be tough. Rather than cutting them out I just double the leaf over, spine side out, hold the leaf firmly with one hand and with the other just rip the spine out largest end first - easy peasy! (No waste though, the spines go to the compost and worms).  Steamed, it's delicious - it takes as long as potatoes to steam.
Peter attributes his good health to a daily cup of  Kale tea, so thought I'd give it a go.

Kale Tea

 I thinly sliced a couple of teaspoons of leaves and let them steep for 10 minutes which resulted in a very pale minty-coloured tea. The taste was bearable ... a lighter version of the earthy/grassy Kale smell.
Overall, not too bad and, wow! I feel a lot healthier already ;-) thanks Petey!!