Braised Kale

Name: Braised Kale
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: Salt; 8 ounces dinosaur or lacinato kale leaves, stems removed; 1 tablespoon vegetable oil; 1/2 medium onion, cut into large dice; 1/2 medium carrot, cut into large dice; 1/2 celery stalk, cut into large dice; 1/3 cup sherry vinegar; 2 cups chicken broth; 1 to 3 tablespoons honey, to taste; Pinch of ground white pepper

Recipe from North Pond

Adapted by Alex Witchel

Total Time: 30 minutes
Rating: 4(500)
Comments: Read comments

Kale: The ubiquitous dark and leafy green that people either love or love to hate. If you fall into the latter camp, this recipe for a savory-sweet variation adapted from North Pond, a restaurant in Chicago, might change your mind. It requires a bit more work than a typical garlic and olive oil sauté, but it's well worth it. Start with blanching the kale in a pot of boiling water (skip this if you don't mind your kale a bit more toothsome). Sauté some onion, carrot and celery in a little oil, then add ⅓ cup sherry vinegar and reduce. Toss in the kale with a little honey, chicken broth and salt and pepper, then cook until the leaves are tender. At this point, you can either go ahead and eat it, or do as they do at the restaurant: strain the liquid and reduce to make a flavorful sauce to pour over the greens. —Alex Witchel

Featured in: Recipe: Pumpkin Seed Coulis

or to save this recipe.
Subscriber benefit: give recipes to anyone
As a subscriber, you have 10 gift recipes to give each month. Anyone can view them - even nonsubscribers. Learn more.
Subscribe
Share
Print Options
Include recipe photo

Ingredients

Yield:4 servings

Salt
8ounces dinosaur or lacinato kale leaves, stems removed
1tablespoon vegetable oil
½medium onion, cut into large dice
½medium carrot, cut into large dice
½celery stalk, cut into large dice
⅓cup sherry vinegar
2cups chicken broth
1 to 3tablespoons honey, to taste
Pinch of ground white pepper

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Opt out or contact us anytime. See our Privacy Policy.

Preparation

Step 1
Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil. Meanwhile, set aside a large bowl of ice water. Add kale to boiling water, return to a boil, and after 1 minute transfer to ice bath. Drain well, and set aside.
Step 2
In a large sauté pan, heat oil over low heat and sauté onion, carrot and celery until just softened. Add sherry vinegar and cook until reduced by two-thirds. Add kale and stir to coat, then add chicken broth, honey, 2 teaspoons salt and the pepper. Bring to a simmer and cook, partly covered, until kale is tender, 6 to 8 minutes.
Step 3
Transfer kale leaves to a warm bowl, leaving onion, carrot and celery in broth. Strain broth, discarding solids. If there is more than * cup, it may be boiled in a small saucepan until reduced. Adjust salt and pepper as needed, and pour over kale. Serve immediately, or cover and refrigerate for up to 24 hours; gently reheat before serving.

Ratings

4 out of 5

500 user ratings

Have you cooked this?

Private Notes

Leave a Private Comment on this recipe and see it here.

Comments

NLC7 years ago

Perfectly awful. Glad I made in advance... will not be serving to our guests this evening.

AnneC7 years ago

This is much better and much easier:
Rinse kale, trim ends, and cut crosswise into 3-4 inch large pieces.
Heat 2-3 tablespoons of good olive oil in a skillet, then saute 3-4 pieces of garlic until fragrant.
Add kale, sea salt to taste, and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
Cover, and shuffle pan across burner until kale wilts down a bit..about 2 minutes.
Turn heat off, remove cover slightly, and let sit until until it wilts a bit more. Tastes great warm or at room temperature!

Christa7 years ago

What in particular was so awful about it?

Anna1 year ago

We love greens in our house and this was a new way of making it. I did not have the correct quantities of ingredients so I didn't measure anything; I just went eyeballed everything and it came out great. Will have to make it again soon. It's the sherry vinegar and the honey that really make it.

Rabia1 year ago

Too much trouble for the eventual result, and too wasteful. Keep the veggies as a garnish for the greens, they look nice on top, and forget about trying to reduce the sauce. Just cut the chicken broth in half, it's enough to do the job.

John M1 year ago

The previous notes concerned me so I made some modifications: I followed the recipe through the point of adding the kale to the broth. Then I brought the broth to a simmer and cooked for only 1 or 2 minutes to preserve the texture of the kale. Then I drained the broth and served the kale, onion, carrot and celery in a bowl rather than tossing out nicely flavored veggies. Serve immediately.

Private comments are only visible to you.