Even though Leif and I eat meat we try to balance our diet with a fair amount of vegetarian dishes as well. Usually these dishes come in the form of soups or chowders. I've been trying to expand my repertoire of vegetarian cuisine with dishes that I can easily pull together in the evenings but that are a little more interesting than what I normally make. This recipe was my first attempt.
Kale has always been somewhat of a mystery vegetable to me. I know it is something of a power food. It has more iron per calorie than beef and more calcium than milk. A single cup of the green stuff has more vitamin C than an orange and more vitamin A than any other leafy green. Impressive, right? Yet I still rarely cook with it mainly because, other than kale chips, I haven't really found many uses for it. My in-laws juice it but I'm not into the whole juicing thing.
But then I came along this recipe and decided to give it a try using kale. It turns out that this is exactly the type of thing that kale is good in. It holds up well being sauteed and ends up being tender without being mushy and it doesn't overpower the subtlety of the cannellini beans. Even better is that it makes great leftovers for lunch the next day.
I highly recommend trying this one out. But make sure to use organic kale because it is on the Environmental Working Group's list of Dirty Dozen produce that have the highest amount of residual pesticides. Yipes.
cannellini beans with sauteed kale
recipe adapted from here.
2 tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic, sliced thinly
1/4 tsp dried crushed red pepper
2 large bunches of kale with thick stems removed and sliced into 1 inch strips
1 cup vegetable broth
2 15-oz can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 tsp sherry vinegar
1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
2. Add garlic and red pepper and stir for 1-2 minutes.
3. Add greens by the handful; stir just until starting to wilt before adding more.
4. Add the vegetable broth and simmer greens until tender.
5. Add the beans and simmer uncovered until beans are heated through and the liquid is absorbed.
6. Stir in the vinegar.
7. Season with salt and pepper.
I make a soup similar to this. It's so tasty. The only changes are: saute a few sliced shallots in a soup pot with a little olive oil and some white wine (no sherry). add garlic. add kale+stock+a rind of Parmesan cheese. Bring to a boil, and then simmer for a long time. Add beans at the end (if they are canned). The parm rind adds a saltiness that is SO good. I always add some shredded parm for serving. Yum! (I'm going to try your cleaned up, cheese free version this week!)
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