Varieties of Kale - Who Knew?!

A few weekends ago I went to the market at Eastern Market, in Washington DC.  We found so many great things - jewelry, shabby chic furniture and home decor, and delicious fresh produce!  My favorite was this brightly colored display:

But the food vendors were exciting too!

 (my treasure!   Heirloom tomatoes, white peaches, spaghetti squash, green beans, kale and basil)

I came home with a pound of kale - four different varieties.  I googled and found out that I had two varieties of Dinosaur Kale and two varieties of Curly Kale.  I made kale chips with both ... and kale greens with both, to compare their textures and flavors.

Curly kale and Curly kale with purple ribs!

 

Dinosaur kale and dinosaur kale with purple ribs!

The dinosaur kale is much thicker and a firmer texture than the curly kale.  It worked beautifully for the chips since it lays flat already.  In the kale greens, it needed to cook much longer to become tender.

The curly kale (most of what you find in the grocery store and farmers' markets) is perfect for the kale greens.  For chips, they don't lay as flat but get a lot of crunch.

I would probably not buy dinosaur kale again - it was a little more bitter than the curly kale too.