Couve Galega

 In most of the rural areas of Portugal, the locals all seemed to have a few chickens, and a plot of this strange vegetable.

We could see it's remnants in long abandoned gardens, where it had sprouted and turned into a prehistoric looking bit of dinosaur food.

We saw it being harvested, on a small scale, by little old ladies.

And by the tractor load.

It seems to be the national vegetable of Portugal, somewhere in between kale and collard greens (and related to both).

It is used to make the national soup,

Caldo Verde, which although different every time we had it, was yummy nonetheless.

Update:

Back state-side, we were perusing the local farmer's market, and one of the vendors has it: "Portuguese Kale".  Along with the "emergency" sausage I forgot about in the bottom of my backpack, we're hoping to make a good batch for dinner!