One of the fun things about having a vegetable garden is growing plants you might never have tried, and this year I experimented with a type of heirloom kale called Red Russian Kale. Although this plant can be allowed to mature and eaten in ways similar to other varieties of kale, the seed package and several online sources recommended picking the leaves when they were small and eating them as salad greens. I did like the flavor of the raw kale, and going partly on instinct, I combined it with red cabbage, green onions, and a slightly chile-flavored dressing to make a colorful coleslaw I thought was just delicious. I realize lots of readers won't have access to this variety of kale, but you can certainly make this salad with cabbage, and if you have a garden maybe it will inspire you to look for seeds for this heirloom kale next year.Click to continue reading