Kale 'Red Russian' is more tender to eat & has a sweeter flavour than the more traditional varieties of curly Kale. It has grey/green 'oak leaf' shaped frilly leaves with attractive purple veining, which get deeper in the cold. The young leaves are good for 'baby leaf' use in salads, and the older leaves can be used just like cabbage; sautéed, steamed or blanched.
Kale 'Red Russian' makes great 'Chinese Seaweed'. Just remove the midrid, thinly slice & deep fry for no more than a minute and dry on kitchen paper before serving with a spinkle of salt & sugar. The older leaves are lovely stir-fried with a bit of garlic, bacon pieces and finely chopped chilli.
It is a useful veg that contains a lot of vitamins, provides a good crop of greens when little else is available in the winter months and is relatively low maintenance.
