Simple Sauteed Kale
Every healthy home cook should have a tried and true recipe for sauteed greens in her repertoire and that’s a fact. Kale intimidated me for a long time. I’m not sure if I thought it was going to be hard to cook or if I thought I wouldn’t like the taste of it or what. Whatever the case, I didn’t really start buying it and eating it until about two years ago. Crazy talk, I know!
And now I eat it all the time. If you’ve looked through even a handful of the recipes on this blog you’ve probably gathered that much by now. I like buying a one pound bag of pre-washed kale at the grocery store and using it up in different ways throughout the week. Will I stuff it in meatballs? Let it wilt in soup? Will I eat it raw in energy balls or blend it into a smoothie? All of the above, usually.
I’ve made sauteed kale a lot of different ways. A fan favorite for others seems to be with lemon. I tried to make myself like it, but after multiple attempts I have to say I’m still not a fan. The other fan favorite seems to be with bacon. Tried it that way too. As much as I love bacon, I was thinking that would be the sure winner. But no. The key, I’ve found, is garlic. Garlic makes everything better.
I love fresh garlic so much that the first kitchen gadget I purchased before Mike and I even got approved for our apartment was something called a garlic rocker. I linked the one that I own. I can’t recommend it enough. It’s super sturdy, easy to clean, and it minces a ton of garlic so quickly and perfectly. I use it several times a week, including here for my sauteed greens!
This side dish comes together very quickly with only a few kitchen staples that you likely keep stocked in your pantry as it is. Throw in a bag of kale and you’ve got all you need. I always pick through my bag of kale and I suggest you do the same. Even if it’s sold as “de-stemmed, washed, and ready to eat” there are probably quite a few stems in there. Those don’t make for good eats, so toss them if you find them. Of course, you can also start with loose kale leaves from the produce department as well. Same rule applies. You don’t want to be eating the woody stem. But other than that, it’s all good eats!
Ingredients
Method
- Heat the avocado oil over medium heat in a large cast iron skillet. When hot, add the minced garlic and saute for 1-2 minutes until fragrant and starting to brown.
- Add all of the kale to the skillet in a large pile. Season with sea salt to taste. Carefully stir to coat with the garlic and avocado oil. The pile will start to decrease in size as the kale cooks down. Saute, stirring occasionally, for 10-15 minutes until kale has wilted, reduced, and browned to your liking. You can tent a second skillet over the cast iron skillet if you wish. This will help the kale cook a bit faster.
