march 8, 2021

Are you in a vegetable rut? This recipe for Garlicky Kale and Carrots  will give you a boost. By rut, I mean the sameness of our vegetable side game: open bag of frozen veggies and heat. Roast simple vegetable in oven. Buy precut veggies and make a stirfry. There is nothing wrong, however, with these vegetable sides unless you are bored with the repetition.

How to Break the Boredom

The grocery store vegetable aisle or the farmer’s market has some vegetables you may be less familiar with preparing. What do I do with a head of cabbage? What is a rutabaga? Are those turnips? This collection of recipes has a number of get-out-of-your-rut vegetable ideas, like Glazed Rutabaga with Pistachios  and Ginger Sesame Brussels Sprout Salad. Two other winter vegetables which get the ” aren’t they pretty” treatment before they get passed over are combined in my Red Cabbage and Delicata Squash easy side dish.

tear kale into large pieces, savings stems for compost or chop and add to a nice stirfry

Kale is in that same category. If you have been raised in the South like me, you consider kale as a slow cooked pot of greens, maybe with some smoked meat. This recipe shows you can tear up a bunch and cook it with colorful carrots and fragrant garlic for a side dish while yielding several servings of high fiber winter produce to brighten  your dinner plate.

Make some steps ahead and revel in your side dish accomplishment. Cut the carrots and tear the kale up to a couple days ahead. Or, if you’re really ambitious, make the whole dish ahead up to a couple days and dole out servings all week long. Microwaving is permissible here (when you are ready to serve, that is) to save time and does not affect flavor or texture. I love easy, especially when it brings me to the Five a Day Club.

Garlicky Kale and Carrots

recipe by Michele Humlan, The Good Eats Company

makes about 6 servings

ingredients

2 large bunches kale, torn into large bite size pieces, stems removed
4 medium carrots, peeled and cut into thin diagonals
3 large cloves garlic, chopped coarsely
1 ½ tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
kosher salt
optional : less than or equal to ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper

directions

1. Place kale in large mixing bowl, cover with tap water to rinse, swirl and  then remove by hand onto sheet pan or large container without draining (you want some water for cooking).
2. In large heavy saute pan, combine carrot and olive oil with pinch of kosher salt on medium high heat; when mixture begins to sizzle, reduce heat to medium and stir occasionally for a couple minutes to soften carrot.
3. Add garlic and crushed red pepper if using, then undrained kale with another pinch of salt, and cover over medium high heat, stirring with tongs every couple minutes, until kale begins to soften; the pile of kale will look high, but as it cooks, it reduces nicely.
4. Uncover and cook over high heat, stirring and avoiding browning, until kale is tender and excess water cooks away.
5. Total cook time will be about 8 minutes; adjust for salt after cooking.
6. May be made up to 3 days ahead; brief bursts of microwave heat before serving.