Kale Salad

A year or so ago my massage therapist told me about a kale salad she had read about. It didn't really have a recipe, just a guideline, but I tried it and it has become our go-to salad ever since. I get asked about the salad fairly often as we serve it all the time and just today wrote a fairly long explanation to a young friend in Toronto. Since kale is so highly recommended I figured I'd share what I know about this way to serve it. Its'a long- winded story:

As there is no measureable recipe you have to wing it a bit. I only ever used store-bought kale until this year when I decided to try growing it. This cool spring in Victoria has been perfect for kale and we've had a great crop (Photo at left. The copper strips are to keep the slugs at bay). If you are buying it organic is probably safest. So, buy a bunch of kale, it doesn't matter what colour. If it looks a bit tired/limp, just cut the stem ends off and stick the bunch in some water. I've seen some really wilted looking stuff recover beautifully. I would probably say, not scientifically proven, that when it is extremely hydrated it is very firm and crunchy so you don't want to overdo the water trick. When you are washing it check along the stems for mud. If the leaves are really big I remove some of the stem because it can be pretty woody, otherwise I scrunch the leaves up and chop them quite finely. The unknown part is how much (good) olive oil to use. I just kind of slop some on and then toss it around to see if it was enough. You want a generous coating without dripping or puddling in the bowl. I've had to drain it sometimes when I've been over enthusiastic. After you've chopped and oiled the kale, throw in a generous amount of salt (my favourite is a tarrogon flavoured sea salt), again it's trial and error, a small handful of dried cranberries, and likewise of pine nuts (cost the earth but add a very distincive taste). Sometimes I throw in raw zuchinni but tomatoes or any acidic thing (lemon or vinagraitte) just doesn't seem to work well. It has to sit for 20-30 minutes to soften the kale and is still fit to eat the next day so don't throw out the leftovers. Sorry for the long winded explanation but it's tasty if you get it right and not so good if you don't. And it's dead easy once you get the hang of it. If you like the salad you can thank Ariane for initiating this post.

Some of our exotics!

Black Lace Elderberry - will we ever see elderberry wine?

Jim's doorway to heaven,

a white astilbe, red maltese Cross, and a yellow phygelius.