How To Make Sauteed Kale

Give me a “K”!

Give me an “A”

Give me an “L”

Give me an “E”

What’s that spell???

KALE!!!

Kale smoothies, kale soup, kale chips…kale is everywhere these days. It’s the latest icon of super healthy, nutrient dense food–but that’s only because it is one. If you don’t like it, it’s likely you haven’t had it prepared really well. It can be bitter, tough, and frankly over powering. But prepared well it’s delectable.

…I confess there was a time when I did not like kale. And I confess that as a child I preferred iceberg lettuce… But there came a day, while driving home, thinking about the kale salad waiting for me in the fridge, that my mouth literally started to water. And I knew then that there was no going back.

I don’t eat it every day, nor do I advise doing so. Too much of anything, even a good thing, isn’t wise. But I had some today and it was D E L I C I O U S !

Mise en place (everything in place) before getting started. Garlic chopped, kale washed and torn, salt, vinegar and oil at hand.

Preheat the pan. Not too hot or the garlic could burn. I don’t use olive oil at this point; I use coconut or rice bran oil because they have higher smoke points. I save the good olive oil for the end. Into the pan goes a teaspoon or two of oil plus, in this case, 5 cloves of chopped garlic.

Garlic is just starting to brown so in goes the kale!

A few minutes of tossing it around and it starts to wilt.

Time to season with good salt and balsamic vinegar. The salt and sour flavor of the vinegar with just a hint of sweetness balance out the bitterness of the greens. Without them this would be a very different dish. After I turned of the heat I drizzled it with high quality olive oil.

And two eggs over easy made this a balanced, positively divine lunch.