When in Kenya in 2016, I found Sukuma Wiki (Kale) growing along the sides of the roads. In Swahili, 'sukuma' means push, and 'wiki' means week - when food is scarce (as it often is in a Kenyan village) kale 'pushes you through the week'. 

In our garden other vegetables come and go with the seasons, but kale lives on, and on, and on. So what do you do with an abundance of kale in the garden? You eat kale, kale, and more kale! Kale leaves, chips, kale powder, kale smoothies, kale salad, kale pesto, and even kale cupcakes. I was laughingly telling friends a little while ago that pretty soon I would be able to write a recipe book of 101 Ways to Eat Kale.

It is certainly not a new vegetable, but up until 10-15 years ago, few had heard of it, let alone been adventurous enough to eat it! But since 2008 kale has seen a 400% increase on restaurant menus and has made it to our tables, or at least into our smoothies!

This begs the question - “Why”? Why is kale trendy, why is it recommended by nutritionists, and why are we putting it in cupcakes! Perhaps next week I will answer some of those questions, but for this week, I want to give you a simple, raw, delicious recipe…

Kale Pesto

1 cup roasted nuts - I like cashews, almonds or pine nuts

1 bunch kale - the type really doesn’t matter

1 lge clove garlic

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 lemon, juiced 

1 tsp sea salt 

Method

Roughly chop the nuts in a food processor or thermomix.
Add the kale and garlic and contunue to process until the texture is medium to fine.
Add the oil, lemon juice and salt, and process gently for a few seconds until combined.

Use as a dip, on your pizza base instead of tomato sauce, on toast, mixed through pasta or rice - be adventurous!

You can vary the amounts of salt, garlic and lemon juice to suit your taste. This pesto will keep in the fridge for a few weeks and can also be frozen until needed.

Give it a go, let me know what you think, and keep eating your kale!