Warm Kale & Artichoke Salad with toasted almonds

Kale, artichoke salad tossed in anchovies and toasted almonds

Green leafy kale salad bursting with flavour and crunch...

It is early spring and the days have just started to get warmer, but there is still a noticeable chill in the air.  Today, I feel like a salad that is full of leafy green goodness that is warm, comforting and full of flavour and texture.  And I have just the thing, for kale, pan-fried, is seriously tasty, and even more so, when combined with the bold saltiness of anchovies, flavourful artichokes and crunchy toasted flaked almonds.  

Kale crisps flavoured with honey and soy

Cavolo Nero crisps with honeyed walnuts

Kale crisps flavoured with soy and honey with a few honeyed walnuts thrown into the mix...

For a while now, I have been dreaming about kale crisps - ever since the day I stumbled across packets of these veggie crisps at an organic food store.  The thing with kale crisps is you either love them and crave them constantly, or you can't understand the concept of them and loathe the idea. Either way, at £3.60 a packet, these crisps don't come cheap.

Growing Chinese vegetables: Kai Lan / Chinese Broccoli...

Kai Lan/ Chinese Broccoli growing in our vegetable garden

I am really excited about the Chinese Broccoli (also known as Gai Lan, Kai Lan, Chinese Kale) that I am growing in the garden right now.  Chinese kale is so different compared to other kinds of kale - the stems are very tender and the texture of the leaves much more delicate.  And the taste!  Kai Lan has got to top the list when it comes to "most flavoursome" Chinese vegetable.

Delicious Things to Harvest in June!

The month of June was a month of 'green' for us and for the very first time, we were able to continuously harvest and eat our own homegrown vegetables.  Mostly these were green vegetables, which has helped to fulfill my cravings for Chinese cuisine and boost our CVC Index*. As the Summer season begins, temperatures in England have soared (with some days reaching a maximum of 28 °C), and whilst most of our plants have thrived in this heat, the soil has never been drier meaning constant watering has become crucial. In these extra long sunny days when the sun doesn't set until half past nine in the evenings, it has also meant a lot more 'garden' time for us!

Grow pretty Chinese veg: Tatsoi and Kale

A bouquet of Kale from the garden

A few months ago, longing for the taste of Chinese vegetables which had now become a distant memory, I decided to sow a mix of Oriental vegetable seeds.   Some of the baby leaves were continuously picked and eaten by us in salads, whilst others were left to grow.

And then finally, over the weekend, we found ourselves face-to-face with a vegetable garden with lots of lovely looking Tatsoi and Kale, all ready for us to devour.  So pretty were they, that I almost wanted to leave them in the ground to have as decorative plants!

Cut and Grow again Chinese baby leaf salad

How I love a salad in the warmer months, and especially baby leaf salad!  This year being the year of homegrowing, I really wanted to have 'cut-and-grow-again' baby salad leaves around the house as they are so handy to have and you can just snip your way to a lovely homegrown salad as and when you desire! 

Back in April, we decided to sow "Leaf Salad - Stir Fry mix" seeds from Suttons.   The mix included "Pak Choi, Kailan, Choy Sim Hon Tsai Tai, Tatsoi, Chinese Kale and Yukina Savoy".