Garlicky Braised Kale with Tomatoes & Red Onions - Recipe

Serves

Prep in

10 minutes

Cooks in

45 minutes

Me & green vegetables, we’re like a match made in heaven but I entirely understand some people don’t find them so tantalising on the tastebuds. As the weather turns colder however even I yearn for something more comforting than a simple steamed green (although these still feature heavily in my diet due to their sheer ease & speed of preparation! In addition to the nutritional benefits of course).

This recipe seems to have won over even the least enthusiastic of leaf loathers & requires all of a few minutes of casually chopping & chucking into a pan before some good old ignoring for 20-25 minutes whilst you go about your other important business.

Some may say by cooking the kale you lose all of it’s nutritional value but this is not the case.

Certain components such as Vitamin C will be decreased due to the cooking but this is true of any method as it is unstable when heated. However the other wonderfully nourishing aspects including Vitamins A & K, plus the minerals Manganese & Copper, in addition to plenty of fibre are all still present. This is then bolstered by the award winning amounts of the antioxidants Lycopene from the cooked tomatoes & Quercetin from the onions.

So all in all I’d say we’re on to a winner here, especially if it get’s those spinach sceptics eating their greens 😀

Key Facts

Plant-Powered
Vegan
Nutritious & Delicious
Easy & Speedy

Ingredients

3 medium red onions
3 large cloves garlic
1 x 400g jar chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 organic vegetable stock cube
500ml boiling water
250-300g whole leaf curly kale*
1 tsp dried mixed herbs or 3-4 stalks of fresh thyme
*This recipe also works brilliantly with green beans, simply swap the kale for 400g of them.

Preparation

01

Peel & halves your onions then slice relatively finely. Add to a large pan with 1 teaspoon coconut oil. (I use a large sauté pan with a lid) Heat gently until the oil melts & stir to coat then onions, cover with a lid, turn the heat down to low & leave to sweat gently for 10 minutes.

02

Finely chop or grate the garlic then add to the pan once the onions are soft & translucent. Replace the lid & leave to cook for a further 5 minutes.

03

Add the tomatoes, tomato purée, herbs & stock to the pan, stir well & bring to a gentle simmer.

04

Cut the tough ends of the kale then shred into 1.5-2cm thick slices for the leafy bits & slightly finer (~1cm) for the stalkier bits. Add to the pan & replace the lid.

05

Leave to wilt down into the sauce for 5-6 minutes then give it a stir to coat all the leaves in the sauce. Replace the lid & just leave to cook for 20-25 minutes.