Braised Kale

I'm back! On July 18th I gave birth to my beautiful baby boy, Andy, and for the past month we have been living off of the generosity of our family and friends. Thanks to them, our refrigerator remained full and I was able to focus my attention on our new little bundle of joy.

Well, as life would have it, two weeks after bringing Andy home, our apartment complex decided to raise the rates of our rent by $200 a month. With a newborn in our arms, we were suddenly facing a difficult reality: we had to pack up and move. Luckily we have family that offered us the use of their family-room to live in for awhile while we save up for our next home. It's basically like living in a studio apartment, which is actually pretty cozy. But unfortunately I had to put half of my kitchen supplies into storage while the other half is now crammed into the built in bar in the family-room. The funny part is, even though we have less space to store my pots and pans, I have more counter space to work with. Plus, I get to take advantage of my family's beautiful garden full of fresh vegetables and fruits! And so The Tasty Spoon continues in a temporary kitchen but with more resources for great new recipes!....It's the silver lining.

I am so excited to be back in the kitchen. Granted, now with a newborn around, my cooking consists of me frantically running around the kitchen as soon as the baby passes out in a milk induced coma. It certainly takes some adjusting to. But a couple days ago, I managed to sneak off and harvest some deliciously lush kale from my family's garden to have with dinner. When I was pregnant, my friends made me a dish that included braised kale and since then, I had been dying to try my hand at making it. So for the first meal I have made since I have been pregnant, and for the first meal in my new kitchen, I decided to try making braised kale. Not only was it surprisingly easy to make, but it was absolutely delicious! I served it on wild rice topped with meatballs in peanut chili sauce (check out the recipe at: http://thetastyspoon-gingerales-kitchen.blogspot.com/2011/04/crock-pot-meatballs-in-peanut-chili.html). This recipe would also mix well with pasta, or simply served as a side dish.

Braised Kale

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 
3/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
6 cloves garlic, minced
6-8 cups (firmly packed) torn kale pieces
1 cup chicken broth

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.

Add the salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, and minced garlic and sauté for about 2 minutes.

Add the kale and chicken broth, stirring occasionally for 8 to 10 minutes until the kale is soft.

Remove from the heat. Serve immediately.