I saw someone post something on social media the other day about “eating kale like it’s 2012”. I totally chuckled and thought of myself.
There’s been some kale on the blog in recent weeks, and spoiler alert: there’s plenty more coming this way! Much to Mr. Prevention’s dismay, but…oh well! I’m the boss in the kitchen and he can always throw in a frozen pizza as a second course. Which he does…often.
Maybe I’m just behind the trends and I’m just now becoming infatuated with kale, but it’s also because kale has inundated both my grocery store in various varieties (washed and prepped, organic, curly, lascinato…oh my!) and has popped up frequently in my CSA box.
There’s also the fact that Shea has found she enjoys kale in my savory delights and next up, I’m so making her a green smoothie.
I saw this recipe in Cooking Light and it definitely caught my eye. Of course through making my grocery list over the weekend, completing my grocery shopping on Sunday as usual, and then preparing this meal come Wednesday, I came to find out I had only ½ cup of Arborio rice. I debated on whether or not to run out myself or worse, send Mr. Prevention on the hunt, but settled on swapping in basmati rice. I had a CostCo-sized bag of that stuff.
I spent about 20 minutes being frustrated with the substitution before I decided it just wasn’t that big of a deal and alright already, GET OVER IT, NICOLE! The combination of the kale with the sweet onion-y rice (“risotto”), toasted almonds, tangy vinegar, and sweet golden raisins was such a party in my mouth. It just…worked. So very well.
- 6 cups low-sodium vegetable stock
- ¼ cup olive oil, divided
- 2 sweet onions, chopped
- 3 Tbsp garlic, minced
- 2 cups dry basmati rice (or risotto)
- 1 cup dry white wine
- ¾ tsp kosher salt, divided
- ½ tsp black pepper, divided
- 4 oz Gruyère cheese (about 1 cup), shredded
- 2 small bunches Lacinato kale, stems removed and chopped
- ¼ cup golden raisins
- ¼ cup slivered almonds (toasted, if desired)
- 2 tsp white balsamic vinegar
- In a small sauce pan, bring stock to a slow simmer.
- Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add 3½ tablespoons oil; swirl to coat. Add onion and sauté 8 minutes or until softened. Add garlic and cook for 30-60 seconds or until fragrant. Add rice to pan; cook 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add wine; cook 2 minutes or until liquid almost evaporates, stirring constantly.
- Reduce heat to medium-low. Add ½ cup stock mixture to pan; cook until liquid is nearly absorbed, stirring often. Add remaining stock mixture, ½ cup at a time, stirring often until each portion is absorbed before adding the next (about 30 minutes). Stir ½ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon pepper, and cheese into "risotto"; once melted, remove from heat.
- Meanwhile, in the last 10 minutes of cooking risotto, heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add remaining 1½ teaspoons oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add kale to pan; cook 3 minutes or until kale wilted. Stir in remaining ¼ teaspoon salt, remaining ¼ teaspoon pepper, raisins, toasted pecans, and vinegar; sauté for 1 minute. Top risotto with kale mixture.
This sounds SOOOO good!! I love that you can use basmati or arborio 🙂
I never really liked kale until I did Blue Apron – one of the first instructions was to cut the stem out and chop up the leafy part – what the what? I’d been chopping it like romaine lettuce and I think the stem has all the bitter parts.
Happy Friday!