Greens Challenged

Nelson tasted a marvelous soup at school on Thursday. (They were having teacher appreciation week.) He was so excited about it that he got the recipe from the gal who made it. Turns out it's Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana. Nelson had to have it this week!

So Friday I go to WinCo to do my regular shopping and I get to the produce department, because one of the ingredients is kale. I'm standing there in front of all these green ... things ... all in neat piles. WinCo plasters the signs about what costs how much all over, with no rhyme or reason or coordination with what in in the bins below. And suddenly it hits me:

I don't know what kale looks like!

Oh, dear! ... That's probably red chard because of the red lines going through it. That looks like some kind of cabbage. Maybe? This looks a lot like the cabbage, but it has fewer leaves and more stem. I pick that up and tentatively put it in the bag. A little voice says that is not kale. I take it back out. All kinds of knowledgeable people are confidently picking up greens and putting them in their bags. I stand there. Do I look like Rachel Ray pondering the possibilities? Only I know that I am greens challenged. ... I know those are leeks, so that's good. What's that curly stuff? Is any of this labeled on those twistie thingies they put on them? Not that one... Hmmm..... There's one labeled "collards." Fortunately, I look again at the curly stuff and it has a twistie thingie that says "kale" upside down. Hurrah! I can make Zuppa Toscana!

And now I know what kale looks like.

In case you're interested:

Then again, you're probably not greens challenged.