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[casu_consulto]

My sister, whirlygig, has been raving about 101 Cookbooks, a natural foods cooking blog with some really fascinating recipes. High on my list to try are Black Bean Brownies and Lemony Chickpea Stirfry. I've been frustrated because although the recipes the author cooks are roughly seasonal, she's in a different hemisphere to me, so everything's exactly 180

Comments

[whirlygig]

Hee. I'm impressed with your skillz!

(also, I freaking love the phrase 'ready reckoner'.)

I had an idea that kale was silverbeet, but it turns out that's chard - heaven knows why that name didn't catch on ;) They say it's like cabbage but in some pictures it looks a lot darker. Confusing!

[casu_consulto]

Oh kale = chard? Why didn't you say so!

(Pause while I investigate wtf chard is.)

Oh OK. Looks like "Swiss Chard" = Silverbeet. And there's a skinny, weedy looking one that looks a lot like rocket/rucola/arugula. But there's a curly kale that I've never seen before, it looks a lot more like the leafy bits you see around broccoli or cauliflower.

[whirlygig]

No, no, I meant, I was thinking, kale = silverbeet, when in fact, chard = silverbeet and kale = ?????. It doesn't look like it's available here, in any case. It might be worth reading through the comments to the recipe you're interested in - often people complain of unavailable ingredients and others will make suggestions.

[casu_consulto]

Yeah, there are lots of alternatives suggested. I must admit that I find myself a bit puzzled when I come across a fruit or veg that I just can't get...I mean, it's Australia! We can grow anything!

[whirlygig]

Don't bother with kale - it's yukky. There was a vegan restaurant just up the road from where we used to live where it featured in the menu item I chose. It is an unpleasantly coarse green leaf that doesn't taste that good to me.
Just because we can grow anything here doesn't mean that we should e.g. rice or cotton.
That's my 2 cents worth anyway :)
M-E

[casu_consulto]

Yeah that's very true about rice and cotton.

I've heard people say that kale is quite bitter. I still thought I might like it because I generally like green vegies, but it certainly looks like the weeds you see growing in vacant lots, so that's not much of a recommendation!

I bought some Gai Lanh (aka Chinese broccoli or Chinese kale) and I'm going to use that for the recipe.