Spicy Sautéed Kale

This Spicy Sautéed Kale is a great side dish made with kale, hot cherry pepper, garlic, olive oil and salt. 

When Nan was growing up, she lived in a two family home and the downstairs neighbor, Mr. Barone, would make this kale in the basement. He would always bring it over and share it with Nan's family. Nan hopes that this recipe will bring people together the way it did with her family and Mr. Barone's.

Kale is the most nutrient dense foods and loaded with antioxidants. It is an excellent source of Vitamin C and is proven to lower cholesterol. This hearty spicy kale goes well with honestly everything! If you like this kale, free free to try my EASY VEGETARIAN LO MEIN NOODLES and my CHIPOTLE CILANTRO LIME WHITE RICE!

Ingredients

• Fresh kale
• Hot cherry peppers in a jar
• Garlic
• Olive oil
• Salt

See recipe card for quantities.

Instructions

1. In a large stockpot on medium heat, add 1 inch of oil on the bottom of the stockpot. 
2. When the oil warms up, add the smashed garlic and wait until fragrant (you will be able to smell the garlic!). Add the kale and when you hear the oil sizzle, add 2 cups of hot water. Sit the peppers on top of the kale and add ½ cup of the hot cherry pepper juice. Salt, as needed. 
3. Cover the kale and check every 5 minutes for when it softens and when it comes to a boil, lower to low heat and cover for 2 hours. 

Hint: Keep the pot covered and on the lowest heat possible.

Substitutions

Cherry peppers: You will need a combination of the hot and sweet cherry peppers. If you prefer the spicy cherry peppers, feel free to use more of the hot ones.

Kale: Kale works best for this, although escarole and chard works too, as long as you chop up the greens. I have used spinach for this recipe, although you only need to cook for 10 minutes for that. 

Olive oil: I used good quality extra virgin olive oil.

Variations

Cooking is a chance to be creative! Have fun with it and feel free to make your own variation.

• Spicy - add chili pepper flakes while cooking to imbue heat into the dish.
• Deluxe - You can add sweet cherry peppers for a combination of sweet and spicy.
• Kid friendly - Add this kale on a tuna sandwich or a burger.

Check out this MAFALDE LEMON RICOTTA PARMESAN PASTA!

Equipment

Equipment can have a big impact on how a recipe turns out. Stone bakeware takes longer to heat up than metal pans, and also retain heat for longer, which could make the recipe more watery, or burnt on the outsides.

I love using my Caraway pots, pans and baking sheets for best quality. Get yourself a discount by clicking here!

Storage

This will be good in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.

These ingredients don't stand up well to freezing.

Top tip

Keep the pot covered and on the lowest heat possible.