I have to give credit where credit is due: I am totally not the ad wizard behind this recipe. Honestly, I never really ate cooked greens until I dated Eric. No, thats a lie, I guess I sometimes ate them… because I cooked spinach for THIS recipe… and I ate that quite often. So yeah, Eric made collards for me once or twice. They were a bit different and very spicy, but either way… he never showed me how, or gave me a recipe… but he is quite a chatterbox and explained here and there what he used and added when he cooked the greens. Well, I have no idea why, but one day I thought: “Let me attempt cooked kale!” Well, they came out fantastic. And since Marlowe just kept shoveling them in her mouth they became a pretty regular menu item for Marlowe and I. I think you’ll be pretty pleased with this recipe. It’s incredibly easy and while the greens cook for about forty-five minutes to an hour, the actual total hands-on cooking and prep time is only about fifteen minutes. It’s pretty much fat-free (there is olive oil) and it’s loaded in: fiber, vitamin A, C, and K, and calcium! And come on…. look at Marlowe, how could you not at least attempt to make this for yourself or your kids after seeing an adorable 14(ish) month old devouring kale. You gotta try it for yourself!
Ingredients:
one bunch kale
one small onion
few cloves of garlic
water or vegetable stock
apple cider vinegar
salt/pepper
optional:
tomatoes (any kind will do. I always have cherry/grape on hand)
something smokey (choose one of the three: smoked salt *recommended, liquid smoke, sweet smoked paprika)
chili flake
Instructions:
wash kale and tear off stems. then: either rip or chop kale into smaller chunks/strips. smaller pieces will make this much easier for baby mouths and possibly, digestion.
small-chop onion. add to olive oil and saute until translucent and soft.
(optional: add chili flake. mine is bordering on bland, so be cautious for kiddos if yours is a bit stronger)
slice garlic, add to pot, saute for a few minutes. do not burn.
add kale. saute.
it will go from: filling the pot, to cooking down, to almost nothing fairly quickly.
once kale is cooked down, add vegetable stock— enough to cover kale (about three to four cups).
add about three tablespoons of apple cider vinegar.
Alright, so… this is the part where I like to season the greens. My favorite way to do this is to use smoked salt instead of regular salt. It brings a very excellent smokiness to the dish without having to add pork stock or bacon. Well, I ran out of smoked salt about two weeks ago and it’s not exactly one of those things you can just *pick up at the store*, so an excellent substitution is liquid smoke. I picked this one up at whole foods a while back and all you need is a few drops added to any dish and BAM, you got smokiness. Another pretty good (but not as good) substitute would be a teaspoon of smoked paprika. If you’re not using the smoked salt, be sure to still add a few pinches of sea salt. Also: freshly ground pepper. Again, smokiness is totally optional.
Bring stock to simmer and cover. Let it simmer for about forty minutes or until kale is tender.
While simmering here are a few (optional) suggestions: chop up a little bit of tomatoes, clean up, do the dishes, entertain a baby, give your dog some much needed attention, come back to this post and comment about how excited you are, a pedicure.
Once forty minutes has passed (or if you’re impatient, thirty), open lid, stir in tomatoes, and check on greens. The kale should be pretty tender, and the stock should have reduced a fair amount.
Leave uncovered and continue to let the kale (and tomatoes) simmer. You want to reduce the stock to almost nothing. It will be a deep golden yellowy brown and taste salty, smokey, and fantastic. If you want to reduce the sodium content a bit for your little ones, then only reduce the stock a little bit– enough time for your tomatoes to cook in, and strain the rest of the stock and save it for something else (soup, your own greens, a spoon and your mouth).
And that’s it! Now you’ve got cooked greens a baby could love!
And to further prove my point…
this is the face of Marlowe when I am attempting to photograph the kale and I tell her “No” as she reaches her hand into the bowl. She loves it that much.
Happy kale eating!
*Marlowe got the kale about two minutes later after it was cool enough for her to eat. A burnt baby mouth is not a happy mouth.
20 Comments
Dooot dooooot finally trying this recipe 😉
I'm trying this recipe today. And wherever did you get that amazing sippy cup?! It looks great for transitioning from bottle to cup.
I did a primal interpretation of this last night and it was spicy and delicious! Love reading your blog and continue to be inspired by your recipes.
zenbacon.blogspot.com
I made this for dinner tonight (served over brown rice), and it was soooo good! The seasoning is perfect!
I really enjoy reading your blog–so truthful and full of life–and I hope many good things are headed your way soon!
i just did a loose interpretation of your method with some rainbow chard. it was delicious. the apple cider vinegar is so smart. thanks for always bringing some fun, honesty & insight to the internet!
dude your so fucking cool. i think that you, bekah joy and i should so hang out. even though i don't have a baby, i think my chameleon could suffice.
laaahhvvee,
lillian
birdsofafeather.me.uk
just made the kale and the babies and i love it!! thanks!
Oh my gosh, I love this recipe! I may have gone a little overboard with the liquid smoke, but it made it a tad spicy and actually really good. My husband even ate it!
Love your blog! I added one of your buttons to mine.
melissagritter.blogspot.com
Oh yay! Excited to try this…my hubby loves greens!!!
Was just talking about the need for a good kale recipe and voila I read your blog today. Love. Can't wait to make this weekend. 🙂
I buy smoked salt at trader joes… you guys don't have those in FL huh? Lame.
All hail kale! I just made the Garlic and Greens Soup from Colleen Patrick-Goudreau's The Vegan Table last night. I like kale in it the best for the "greens" part. I give this recipe to everyone I know when they come down with a cold. I swear it has magical healing abilities!
I can't believe she eats that!!
I'm gonna try this recipe either tonight or tomorrow! I have some kale that needs to be used asap. Can't wait.
I get ridiculously excited whenever I see someone else using a Born Free bottle or sippy cup. I'm such a fan of them…Oh. And the kale looks delicious. 🙂
This looks yummy! I usually make Kale chips and they are so yummy!
marlowe is so cute!!
<3
have you ever tried to cook groats in your kale? i love it!
🙂
She is so cute eating her veggies! My daughter loves greens but has a hard time with the stringyness of it. She is weird about textures like her daddy. I usually put greens in a quiche or pasta but I'll definitely need to try this recipe, thanks.
I really need to buy some kale, I usually put it in smoothies, but now I need to try this and kale chips. kale!
Oh wow! I had never heard about smoked salt till now. I have been missing out! Will be trying to track some down this week & trying out this recipe!