Braised Winter Greens with Chickpeas

I have been trying to experiment even more with food lately, because I got to thinking the other day...My boyfriend got me a cookbook with 1,000 recipes in it.  Even if I made something EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. it would take me almost three years to make it through the cookbook!  I then started thinking there really aren't that many meals in a year (365 dinners doesn't really sound like THAT much) and each one is an opportunity to eat something new, tasty, and delicious.

With that running through my head, I wanted to try a new vegetable but I also didn't want anything too extravagant to make because I am trying to save up some money for new clothes.  I settled on "Braised Winter Greens with Chickpeas, Onions and Garlic" from Orangette.

The recipe is clearly spelled out on the website, so I'll just take you through what I made...

I settled on kale as my winter green of choice and bought one and a half pounds of it at the grocery store.  In fact, I bought it about two weeks ago and it was still in decent condition -- kale lasts a very long time in the fridge!

I separated the kale leaves from the ribs by running my knife along the inseam of each piece.  After that, I rinsed the kale and left it in a colander to dry a bit.  The recipe says you actually want a bit of water to stick to the leaves, so don't worry about drying it too much.  Then, lay the leaves on top of each other, a few at a time, and slice them into quarter inch pieces.  I didn't worry about precision too much here.  Just cut it up however you prefer.

Next it was time to dice an onion.  I used yellow, as that is my go-to onion (and usually the cheapest at the store).  The recipe calls for half an onion minced, but I used the whole thing and left bigger pieces.

I heated up three tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan (pick a big pan and it will be easier) over medium heat.  Once it was sizzling, I added the onion and a teaspoon of minced garlic.  The recipe says to saute for 10 minutes...Around five minutes I realized mine was BURNING so I would recommend lowering your temperature significantly.

I was really bummed I burned the onions and garlic, and I got distracted and left it to sit for a bit.  When I came back, I tasted it to see how burnt it was and WOW! It was fantastic.  The garlic and onion had carmelized and was soooo delicious.  I am sad to say I ended up eating ALL of the onion and garlic prior to cooking the kale :) Whoops.

Once the onion and garlic was devoured, I drained a can of chickpeas and added it to a new pot of sizzlin' olive oil (obviously if you didn't eat your food prematurely, add the chickpeas to your oil/garlic/onion mixture). I then added the kale in bits and pieces.  It doesn't shrink like normal lettuce does, which is why I think it is important to use a big frying pan.  However, it does lose a little of it's bulk, so you can add it in chunks and let it settle before you add more.  The recipe says to season with salt, but I didn't add any.

Then, lower the heat (I went all the way to low) and cover, cooking for fifteen minutes.  I stirred my occasionally. After that, remove from heat and add 1 and a half teaspoons of lemon juice.  I went a bit overboard and used an ENTIRE lemon, but I love lemon juice and I think the tangy taste is what made it so good.

I don't know what it was about this dish, but I found it seriously tasty.  I made four servings and they are all gone now!  I think it got better after sitting for about six hours because the leaves soaked up my lemon juice and had a nice tang to them.

Whether you try this out or not, hopefully this can be inspiration to try out a new vegetable or food at the super market.  I have never tried kale before and it was great -- it cooks much better than spinach or other lettuces because it doesn't get all wilty and limp.  It retained its shape but still had that great earthy flavor.  Mmmmmmm.