Sautéed Kale & White Beans

We eat our weight in greens in the form of salads around here.  But seriously, with weather like this, who’s craving a salad?  I don’t know about you, but I’ll be wanting something warm on my plate until I see a tulip or two poking through the ground.

I wanted to create a simple flavour-packed side dish that you could enjoy on these chilly days, but still feel like you’re doing your body some good.  This is an example of a little going a long way in the bacon department.  We don’t eat much bacon in our house, and what little we eat comes from local farms that we know (and who treat their animals properly).

Now, if you don’t want to include bacon simply substitute the bacon for a little olive oil and add a clove of crushed garlic, it will still taste great.  Charles made a meal out of this the other night (translation, he ate the whole thing before I could touch it), so it’s safe to say that we’ll be seeing this again at our dinner table!

 

Serves 4 (unless you’re a Hungarian man who loves greens, in which case it serves 1)

Ingredients:

• 1 head of kale, washed, ribs removed and torn into bite sized pieces (6 c. lightly packed)
• 3 slices of good quality bacon, diced*
• 1 small yellow onion, finely diced (1/2 c.)
• 1 c. canned white beans (navy or cannellini), rinsed
• salt & pepper to taste

*you can substitute 2 Tbsp. olive oil and 2 cloves of crushed garlic for the bacon, but add the garlic once the onion is already transparent to avoid burning it

 

Directions:

1. In a large frying pan, sauté the bacon and onion on medium heat until the onions are golden and the bacon is slightly crisp.
2. Add the kale and cook, turning with a wooden spoon or spatula, until it starts to wilt, about 5-8 minutes.  You don’t want to over-cook it.
3. Add the beans and stir over the heat for 1-2 minutes to warm the beans.  Add salt and pepper to taste and serve.