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Petite Exotic Kale, Enormous Flavors
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December 13, 2016

Petite Exotic Kale, Enormous Flavors

As children we picked blue kale when it had reached full maturity like most traditional farmers do. It was tough and leathery and I never developed a fondness for it. Kale was something to be endured during the autumn months, not something to be celebrated.

And then my kale world was turned upside down when we started listening to chefs about what they wanted their kale to be. We've learned from chefs over the years that that it's important to focus on flavor to determine when a plant is ripe for picking, not necessarily when it reaches full growth. With kale, chefs were looking for small, tender leaves that popped with color and our petite exotic kale blend delivers all that and more. 

We hand-harvest the center leaves of six varieties of kale when the leaves are about three inches long and emerge in a rainbow of engaging colors from deep purple, emerald green and a milky lavender and shapes that range from elongated and spiky to round with contoured edges. 

They say that kale is trending out but I don't believe it. Kale isn't a fad, its healthful benefits like the massive amount of vitamin B it delivers and the way it screams fall like few other vegetables can will make kale a seasonal mainstay for many years to come. And now that I have our petite kale to choose from, kale will always have a respected place in our home kitchen. 

I love it both raw and cooked. It's incredible as a salad dressed simply with a drizzle of vinaigrette and amazing when sautéed for a minute and tossed into pasta with a handful of fresh Parmesan. With petite kale, you'll never miss the meat. It also pairs well with tender game, pomegranate, and ingredients high in acidity, wild mushrooms, or sautéed in olive oil with a sprinkle of crunchy sea salt. The sky is the limit with our petite exotic kale blend. Let your imagination run riot. 

One of the best ways for me to determine whether or not a chef is happy with our product is to listen to the way they react to it on a farm tour or when they're cooking for an event at The Culinary Vegetable Institute. 

Our petite exotic kale blend is always a winner. When I hear a chef exclaim, "Oh my gosh, look at this one!" when working with it or when they say while holding a boldly colored, diminutive leaf in their hands, "You've got to be kidding me!" I've know we've succeeded at growing the very best, most flavorful product that we can. 

Farmer Lee Jones

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