Eat Ya Kale!

Don't worry -- Henry didn't get to the plate of food there. He is a sneaky little fella. My kitchen and living room are one open area, so my couch is up against my kitchen table. Henry likes to use that as a stepping-stool to grab food off of the kitchen table. I usually get to him before he can do this, but he has stolen quite a few pieces of chicken in the past.

Breakfast this morning was a fried egg on a corn tortilla with a side of kale. I've been lacking in the vegetable department for breakfast and wanted to incorporate a hearty dose of vitamins during the morning hours, so I tured to kale. It really is a super-food, even more than spinach (which is my typical omelette add-in) I'd say. According to Wikipedia, kale is very high in beta carotene, vitamin K, vitamin A, vitamin C, lutein and zeaxanthin and reasonably rich in calcium. And since my calcium intake has drastically decreased since omitting dairy, I'll be eating it more often. Melissa, over at Gluten Free for Good had a great post about February foods and spoke in more detail about the benefits of kale.

I jazzed up my kale quite a bit, but I honestly like it on it's own too, cooked briefly in olive oil with a little salt and pepper. It'd make a great side dish for lunch or dinner also.

The Good Eatah's Kale Dish (amazinly original, huh?)

-1 package of frozen, chopped kale (or use fresh kale and blanch leaves before following directions below)
-5 strips of turkey bacon, chopped (optional if making vegan - just season liberally to make up for the bacon's saltiness)
-1/4 cup yellow onion, chopped
-1 portabella mushroom, chopped
-1 tablespoon olive oil
-3/4 cup vegetable broth
-2 tablespoons white wine for de-glazing (optional - could use broth instead)

Preheat a pan at medium heat and add olive oil, then add the chopped bacon, onion and mushroom and saute until lightly brown - about five minutes. Take the mixture out of the pan and place aside in a bowl. Now, take the pan off of the heat and add the wine and de-glaze the pan of it's bacony goodness. Next, add the thawed (or blanched fresh) kale and 1/2 cup of the vegetable broth and cover and reduce heat until the broth cooks down a bit -- about five minutes. Next, add the bacon/onion/mushroom mixture back to the kale and add the rest of the broth and cook another five minutes at medium-low heat. Serve and enjoy!