The last year has been a roller-coaster for me; I spent a year managing a chain restaurant. Long shifts and late nights aren’t really condusive to blogging & playing in the kitchen, so things I love doing fell by the wayside for awhile.
Recently, I found myself in a new gig. It’s an unconventional gig, but many things I do tend to be a bit unconventional. I’m running kitchens for a convent & nursing home for nuns. No, seriously. It comes with a whole new set of challenges, but has some cool perks as well, one of which is a fantastic veggie & herb garden tended by the nuns. Recently, I’ve found myself with a lot of cabbage, kohlrabi, and KALE on my hands.
A lot of kale. Like a laundry-basket sized amount to begin with. The heck do you do with that much kale? I have, in the past, expressed my disdain for the popularity of kale. I still don’t think it’s the be-all, end all of the vegetable world, and kale chips are still gross, but I found a way to make kale edible & delicious even to those who are non-green-eaters.
I set to work cleaning & washing all that kale. The best way to prep kale for this application is to cut out & discard the vein/stem portion in the middle; leaving you with 2 long leaves. I tried this recipe with pre-cut, shredded kale, and ended up discarding far too many stems.
Cut the kale into a chiffonade; stack several leaves on top of eachother, roll them up, then slice along the length of the roll. You’ll end up with long strands of kale you can roll on a fork spaghetti-style. Maybe I’ll do a little video on that down the road if anyone is into it.
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 pounds kale, stems removed, shredded into chiffonade
- 3 tbsp EVOO
- 2 shallots, minced
- 1/2 C water
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- Kosher salt & pepper to taste
Instructions:
- Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat.
- Add the shallots and cook until soft, but not colored.
- Raise heat to high, add the water and kale and toss to combine.
- Cover and cook for 5 minutes.
- Remove cover and continue to cook, stirring until all the liquid has evaporated.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste and add a few shakes of vinegar for seasoning.
I had no plans to blog this recipe. Honestly, I thought my blog might be dead. But being in the kitchen & playing & talking about it online woke it all up again. I was tickled when my friend Jen (photo creds on the featured pic) made this recipe all the way in FL & Facebooked about it I knew it had to be a blog post. So I guess I’m back?
