Fiery Kale with Garlic and Olive Oil Pick a Side!

By desacad

Great side dish for pizza! Use the leftovers in pasta.

Ingredients

• 2 medium bunches (about 1 1/2 pounds/738 grams) of kale, any variety
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 3 large garlic cloves, sliced thin
• 2 ounces (59 grams) hard salami (6 or 7 deli slices), quartered and cut into 1/4-inch strips
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Details

Servings 4
Adapted from thekitchn.com

Preparation

Step 1

Leftovers make a great lunch straight from the fridge; work perfectly tossed in with hot pasta, Pecorino and a few extra pours of olive oil; stand in for that broccoli rabe as a terrific sandwich topper; or reheat easily as a reincarnated side dish for anything from roasted meats to grilled fish.

Rinse the kale well and shake it over the sink or pat it in a clean kitchen towel. Don’t worry about getting it bone dry since the water will help it cook. Trim and discard the ends of the kale stems. If there are particularly thick, tough sections of stem, snap them off and throw them away. Otherwise, leave the stem intact. Slice the kale into strips, roughly 1/2-inch thick, across the leaves. If any are especially wide, cut them in half lengthwise first.

Heat the oil in large, wide high-sided sauté pan over medium heat. Add the garlic, salami, and red pepper flakes and sauté until the piquant aroma of the salami gives your nose a little pinch, about 1 minute. Nudge the heat up to medium high, add the kale and cook, stirring often until the leaves turn from leathery stiff to shrunken satiny soft strands of deep, dark green, about 7 minutes.

Note: The more surface area your pan has, the more efficient and effective the sauté. A 5 1/2 quart sauté pan is ideal for cooking big piles of greens, but if you don’t have one, just add the chopped kale to a large skillet in batches, waiting for each to shrivel down in the heat of the sauté.)