Last updated on January 19, 2014 by Liza Hawkins
Last night my sister came over to enjoy the spoils from the March Food Challenge: Polenta! There was a winner of course, Parmesan polenta, but no recipe to go with it. I remembered an episode from one of Giada’s shows where she made a creamy cheesy polenta, and so I searched it out. And found it.
Lucky for me, Giada’s ended up being a Parmesan polenta AND it doesn’t use any broth or stock, which meant I could follow verbatim and still please my vegetarian sister.
To see Giada’s Cheesy Polenta recipe, click here. A creamy, rich, perfect accompaniment to roast chicken, grilled shrimp, or even a simple sautéed kale – it was delicious but how could it not be with over a stick of butter and a cup and a half of whole milk!
How about that kale though. My sister makes sautéed kale all the time, so she gave me her tried and true recipe which we paired with the polenta. She mixed hers in with the polenta, and I treated mine as a side. Perfection, both ways!
Josie’s Sautéed Garlic Kale
Ingredients
1 bunch fresh kale
4 cloves garlic
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup water
Directions
Preheat a heavy bottomed skillet over medium for 2-3 minutes, then add the olive oil and the garlic. Let the garlic cook long
enough to smell fragrant, without browning – about 3 minutes. Add the kale, garlic salt, and pepper, and using tongs, gently toss to coat with the olive oil and garlic. Cook for 15 minutes, tossing every few minutes, until completely wilted.
Kale starts as big mound, but over the course of 25 minutes it’ll cook down to about a quarter of its original size. This is after 5 minutes:
Add the water – use enough to fill the skillet 1/2″ deep. Cover tightly and let cook for an additional 10-15 minutes, or until the kale is tender, stirring occasionally. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste.
Makes 4 side dish servings.
I’ve got enough Rainbow Chard to make two recipes. I guess it’s a good sub for Kale? At any rate, this recipe looks amazing and I’m definitely going to try it! Thanks for sharing via Mamavation!
It’s a great sub for kale! You can use the two pretty much interchangeably in recipes. 🙂