Greens Blues

Chicken, brussels sprouts, and kale with mushrooms

We bought kale to make Portuguese kale soup a few weeks ago, but Bug was injured that weekend so we didn't pick up chorizo and scrapped the idea. In a Serious Eats post, a kale side dish was suggested that included mushrooms, onions, and garlic.

Bug used:
olive oil
1 bunch kale, chopped ($2.00)
garlic, minced
onion powder
crushed chili peppers
salt
pepper
8 oz fresh mushrooms, sliced ($1.50)

In olive oil, the kale was sauteed on medium heat with the garlic and dried seasonings. It took longer than expected for the spines to soften, ~10 minutes. Mushrooms were added at the end to cook for a few minutes.

Bug loved it, gobbling 3/4 of it in 2 meals. The flavor took some amount of control for me not to heave after my fifth bite. Kailan (Chinese kale), which I like, tastes as much like kale as pomegranates taste like apples. This was a great disappointment because I love Au Bon Pain's Portuguese kale soup and acknowledge that it is a nutritional powerhouse. Maybe I need to cook it down longer or add a wee bit of bacon. Would that count against all that is good, like eating a double Whopper with a large diet Coke, a salad with a gallon of ranch dressing?

The chicken was pan fried in olive oil, seasoned with sea salt, black pepper, brown sugar, lime, and garlic and the brussels sprouts were roasted with olive oil, black pepper, and salt. (15 chicken tenderloins $3.00; carton of brussels sprouts $0.99)

I was originally going to title this post, "Kale the Poor," but felt that it was only marginally amusing to someone who has listened to the Dead Kennedys. Okay, maybe not even marginally.

- Cassaendra