I think of myself as someone who doesn’t fall for trends.  Except that I do. And then I must eat my anti-trend words (think cellphones, skinny jeans. Though I will NOT go high waisted and nor will I ever wear a smartwatch, despite their promise to enhance my real life experience).  Naturally, I instead think of myself as a trend-setter, just like my mother who took credit when her friends wore bandanas on their heads, so I suspect that delusion of this sort is hereditary.  Truthfully, I am probably just a quiet follower who gets all noisy claiming credit when a good thing comes my way. Sometimes, however, I do know when I’ve happed upon a good thing, be it avant garde or passé.  Kale is one of those things.

Apparently kale has had its day in the limelight, but I say, shine on! It is hailed as one of the world’s healthiest foods with all those essential healthful elements that are listed on those “A” lists of nutrients and anti-oxidant/inflammatory/cancer, along with spinach and cabbage and other nose scrunching greens. Heck, I’d serve it every day, since its taste certainly outperforms its brethren. It even made it into the Air Canada lounge as a staple salad, next to the other staple of humous and pita – hmm, perhaps that’s when They decided that kale was passé…

This Pan Grilled Kale never fails to satiate the young and old alike, teenage boys in droves, preteen picky eater girls, fussy foodie chef-trained friends; all of them.  Kale is available at any grocery store and it keeps in the fridge longer than a lot of those other greens that are now wilted in your crisper. The recipe is derived from something my friend Gill cooked once at a dinner party I had; her recipe had a myriad of greens including chard and collard greens and she threw a sprinkling of chili flakes and a splash of balsamic on top for more depth in flavour.  The options are limitless, but as the dish became a staple in my house, replacing the ubiquitous blanched green beans, it got super simplified and remained awfully tasty.

If you don’t have a grill pan, not to worry, use a heavy based frying pan. Quite frankly, I have no idea why it tastes better in a grill pan; maybe more moisture is released due to the ridges, or maybe it just sounds romantic.  In any event, I serve this with everything; fish, steak, on its own for lunch.  Anything goes.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 bunch kale (or however much you need)
2-3 cloves garlic, sliced (I use more, because once browned it loses it’s intensity and adds a lovely crunch)
olive oil
sea salt

 Instructions:

 -Heat grill pan over medium heat and drizzle a bit of olive oil in pan.
-Add kale in batches, turning with tongs as you place in pan so as to coat with the olive oil.
-Once all kale is in pan, allow to fry for a couple minutes, tossing occasionally so that it cooks evenly.
-Add garlic slices and continue to toss.
-Kale is ready once garlic starts to turn slightly golden and some of the kale turns slightly crispy. It’s fine even if it remains wilted.
-Sprinkle with sea salt and serve!

-a touch of balsamic added to the pan at the end will add some tremendous flavour, but it may mean less crispy.

With no-fail kale, the other greens pale; you’ll have a whale of a dinner, and thus we hail, bon appetite, from What’s For Dinner Maddie!