Sautéed Kale

Orange juice is even better than red wine vinegar. It is great with the garlic. First had it made thus way at a Cuban restaurant and have been doing it ever since.

Oh boy, I took this basic healthy recipe and corrupted it! Happily. Fried 3-4 strips of chopped bacon, drained off most of the fat, did the rest just the same but during the final cooking added some diced leftover cooked fingerling potatoes, then some soon-to-be-unusable chopped cherry tomatoes, then the bacon and oh my yum.

Saute onions in olive oil on low heat; when golden add garlic. Cook 30 sec-1 min. Add kale to pan with only the water from washing it. Cover and cook until soft and wilted but still green. Remove cover. Add a tablespoon of vinegar of lemon juice (or lemon slices). Season with salt and pepper. Also good with allspice.

I've been cooking vegetables, leafy and not, using this technique (learned from watching Jacques Pepin on PBS) for a few years though I add the red pepper flakes to the oil and garlic before the veg and toss the veg in the oil prior to adding the water/stock (avoids excess splattering). I've learned to never salt kale until after cooking as earlier salting results in a tough, chewy green.

Belgian cooking was once described as "German quantities with French quality" so, cooking this in Brussels, I Belgianized it! I sautéed some speck to start with, deglazed and simmered with a chicken stock/rivaner mix, thickened the sauce with a good dollop of fresh cream, and finished it off with a generous twist of the pepper mill - and a splash of orange juice instead of the vinegar. Divine. And very Belgian.

An Indianized alternative. Also works great with Silverbeet or Collard greens. Roughly chop and clean the greens. Squeeze as much water out as possible, nuke them for 1 minute. Heat coconut oil (or sesame and light olive oil) with ajwain mustard and cumin seeds until they sizzle, add a handful of dried cranberries or raisins (pre-soaked). Saute for a few seconds, then add greens and stir a few times. Add flakes of coconut and stir till toasted. Greens should be wilted but still crisp.

Stephen: By all means, do not toss the stems. You can pop them in the pan with the kale, and they'll be just as tasty as the leaves. Or you can set them aside -- for soup, for example. Rachel Ray even makes a pesto with the stems.

How much kale is in a bunch? The size of bunches seems to vary from store to store here.

Good recipe! My bunch of green kale was extra large, but I used the recipe proportions except for a little less olive oil. When I make it again, I will use only 1 Tbs of red-wine vinegar - for my taste, 2 Tbs was too vinegary. I cooked the fairly young kale about 8 minutes, instead of 5 to 7, and it was just done enough. I like the idea of sautéing some chopped onion first, before the garlic is added.

So simple and tasty, and it can be added to SO many dishes. I added this to a parmesan polenta and sausage dish (with caramelized onions) and it was just the ticket. Turning the heat to 'high' was too high, some of the kale stuck to the bottom and burned when it was covered and cooking, so I've adjusted to medium-high. Also, I reduced the vinegar to 1 tbsp, so the green taste isn't too overwhelmed. I'll be adding this to everything... bean stews are next.

Loved this recipe and made it a veggie main dish by adding halved cashews and serving over jasmine rice.

Now I really like to cook kale! "De-veining" and chopping the stems to sauté first really works!

I have also added chopped fresh ginger with the garlic, a few drops of lemon juice as the greens cook, and a little tamari and toasted sesame oil at the end, no vinegar. It works well with chard too.

I was planning to make this just as written, since it sounds divine and I love any greens cooked with olive oil and garlic...but my husband convinced me to fry up a little bacon--as another poster mentioned--and I sauted some sliced onions as well. I seasoned the kale with salt, pepper, hot pepper flakes, grated nutmeg and red wine vinegar. We will serve it tonight (New Year's Eve) alongside our beef rib roast and tomorrow with black-eyed peas. Delish!

Similar to the version I make, but no stock/wine/water/vinegar required. You can use high heat, and I have found a wok is easiest.

No reason not to include the stems as well!