Braised kale is a delicious way to prepare kale. Kale is a winter vegetable that can be cooked a variety of ways. This recipe is for braised kale with bacon and onions. Enjoy!
Kale is generally regarded as one of the healthiest greens. It is rich in nutrients, packed with health benefits, and also delicious. Kale is an excellent source of fiber, calcium, copper, iron, manganese, magnesium, phosphorous, potassium, vitamin A, vitamin B6, vitamin C, and vitamin K.
Here’s how to prepare it, complete with pictures:
Step 1: Cook bacon in a large pot until crisp. Drain bacon on paper towels, crumble it, and set it aside.
Step 2: Remove and reserve kale stems. Cut along leaf on each side of the stem.
Step 3: Roughly chop the leaves.
Step 4: Cut stems into small pieces. (optional)
Step 5: Dice the onion.
Step 6: Cook the onion and kale stems in the bacon grease over medium heat until the onions begin to brown, about 5 minutes.
Step 7: Add the kale to the onions and stems. Cover and cook for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. The kale leaves should turn bright green.
Step 8: Add the red wine vinegar and the bacon.
Step 9: Season with salt & pepper
Braised Kale
Heart Healthy Kale. Bitter greens are known to support the heart. Here's a fairly simple and very tasty recipe for kale. Read the notes at the end for how to make it your own!
Ingredients
- 1 bunch kale
- 1 small onion
- 4 slices bacon
- 1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
- Sea salt
- Black pepper
Instructions
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Cook bacon in a large pot until crisp. Drain bacon on paper towels, crumble it, and set it aside.
-
Remove and reserve kale stems. Cut along leaf on each side of the stem.
-
Roughly chop the leaves.
-
Cut stems into small pieces. (optional)
-
Dice the onion.
-
Cook the onion and kale stems in the bacon grease over medium heat until the onions begin to brown, about 5 minutes.
-
Add the kale to the onions and stems. Cover and cook for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. The kale leaves should turn bright green.
-
Add the red wine vinegar and the bacon.
-
Season with salt & pepper.
Recipe Notes
Make It Your Own:
This recipe can be varied in many ways, here are some suggestions:
- If you don't have bacon or just want to save time, you can omit the bacon. I do that sometimes and use saved bacon grease. If that makes you cringe, then use olive oil!
- Another short cut I use often is to use chopped onion in place of fresh. I buy it at Costco in the spice section. It is chopped, dried onion. I put it in the hot grease or oil for a couple of minutes and it's hard to tell the difference.
- Often, I will double the recipe because it never seems like enough otherwise.
- DO NOT SKIP the red wine vinegar. It really makes the dish!
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