What do you do when your kale begins to bolt? Keep eating!
I’ve made two meals, so far, from two kale plants trying to bloom in one of my raised beds. The buds, along with the thin, flexible stem tips that bear them, are sweet, tender, and not at all bitter. I leave the little leaves attached, because although kale leaves get smaller as they rise up the stalk, they don’t grow tough and bitter like bolting lettuce, but instead stay sweet and tender.
Kale is much less like lettuce than like broccoli, which is supposed to form buds before we eat it. But I think kale buds taste better than broccoli, even if the broccoli is fresh and homegrown.
Here you see kale buds in a stir-fry with beef, onions, and Purple Haze carrots. I also like bolting kale simply steamed and served with drops of tamari.