Cranberry Kale Side Dish

Until this year, I never saw the large bags of Collard Greens and Kale in the grocery store.  Those bagged greens that have been pre-washed make a busy week night that little bit easier.  This past Sunday while at the store, we grabbed a bag of kale and decided on the following recipe for this busy Wednesday evening.  It was modified from a recipe found on Allrecipes.com.

I found out that kale is not a favorite of my dear husband.  However, this recipe seemed to win his heart. Ted uttered the following comment while eating dinner…”You actually made kale taste really good.” 

Cranberry Kale Side Dish. Serves 6-8

• 2 TBS olive oil
• 1/2 large sweet onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 hot peppers, sliced small *I used the Italian Long Hots  made the other day.
• 1 1/2 TBS Apple Cider Vinegar
• 1 1/2 TBS Honey mustard
• 1 cup Vegetable broth
• 1 16 oz Bag of Pre Washed Kale
• 1/4 cup Dried Cranberries
• 2 TBS sliced, toasted almonds (used the left over almonds from the Gazpacho – to be posted tomorrow)
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Rinse the kale and remove the tough stems. Tear into bite size pieces.  In a toaster oven or under the broiler, place the almonds on aluminum foil, spread out and toast until just brown. Watch carefully because they are no good if they burn. It won’t take long, about 1-2 minutes.

Heat the oil in a large, high sided pan over medium high heat.  Add the onions and cook 4 minutes. Add the garlic and hot peppers and cook 1 minute.  Mix together the vinegar, mustard, vegetable broth, add to the onions and garlic. Bring to a boil then add the kale.  Cover and cook about 6 minutes or until the kale wilts.

Add the cranberries, reduce heat to medium low, continue cooking with cover off for 20 minutes.  Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve with the toasted almonds on top.

MOVIE REVIEW!!!  “He’s Just Not That Into You”

This was a pretty good movie. Initially, I thought “chick flick…Ted is going to hate it and fall asleep”. Both of us watched the film from start to finish with no naps in between. That was quite an accomplishment since the movie was 129 minutes. 

It stars Ben Affleck, Jennifer Aniston, Drew Barrymore, Jennifer Connelly, Kevin Connolly, Scarlett Johansson… and more. Each couple has a story but the main theme is that women misinterpret the actions of men… but there is always the exception…    A good movie and worth the rental.

Hope you’ll visit tomorrow for CEimB Thursday.  This weeks recipe was a real hit!

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What to do about Kale

Beginning with a little fitness fun:  If you are a runner, here is a great post on speed work at Runners Lounge. 

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Now a little Green:  For more info on the following, follow this link.

What would happen if the entire planet turned off its lights for one hour?

This Saturday, March 28, from 8:30 – 9:30pm, we’ll have a chance to find out.

EDF is proud to join tens of millions of people throughout the world for Earth Hour 2009. We’re turning out our lights for one hour to make a statement about the future of our planet.

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Now for the subject: Kale

There is a very large bag of kale in our refrigerator.  It is taking up way too much space and is just screaming to be used.   What to do with it.  After some thought, it seemed that onions and garlic needed to be included in the resulting dish. 

The dish also had to include some protein so it could not only serve as a side dish, but also hold its own as a main feature.  Add beans!  Soy protein could not be added because Ted wouldn’t eat it and there was just WAY too much green there for one person. 

Here is the recipe of the evening:

Sauteed Kale with Onion, Garlic and White Kidney Beans (serves 8 as a side dish and about 4 as a main).

• 2 TBS olive oil
• 1 Large onion, sliced but smaller e.g. slice then 1/2 the slice.
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 (16 oz) Bag Chopped Kale, rinsed and dried well
• 1 (14 oz) can Vegetable (or chicken) stock
• 1 (19 oz) can White Kidney Beans (Cannellini) Beans – drained and rinsed
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2  tsp pepper
• pinch red pepper flakes or more (optional)

Heat the oil in a large pan (large enough to hold all that kale while it cooks down) over medium high heat.  Add the onion and cook about 4 minutes.  Add the garlic and cook 1 minute.  Reduce heat to medium low and let cook for another 12 – 15 minutes.*We are cooking the onion until it is deep brown. This must be done at reduced heat and stirred frequently. The result is the extraction of the onion’s natural sugars.  If your heat is too high, you will burn those sugars which will result in a bitter taste.  Sometimes, depending on your patience, it might take up to 45 minutes to get those onions good and caramelized.

Add the kale. Increase heat back up to medium high. Stir it around then add the stock, salt, peppers.  Cook about 5 minutes and keep stirring as your kale cooks down.  Add the beans.  You want the kale nice and tender so you may have to cook approximately 5 minutes more.  Top with grated cheese if you like.

 

 I have a secret to tell (hee hee hee     ) and it’s about Ted…. (more laughing   )…

Ted helped me decorate birthday cookies last night!  It was too cute, although he wouldn’t describe it that way.  I was decorating some “Happy Birthday” cookies and he said “that looks like fun”.  I said “it is but you have to work fast because the glace’ icing hardens very quickly”.  So he picked up a brush and started painting cookies!                         What a Guy!!!!!

Not quite sure if Apple Crumbles customers will appreciate our talents, but hey…it’s the effort, right?

 

Everyone who paid me a visit tonight, have a super evening and good health!

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