On one of our last girls trips to the mountains, we stopped in Asheville for lunch to the famed Tupelo Honey Cafe because on a weekday after-lunch hour it was blessedly not as jam packed as it is on weekends. I ordered the Venerated Veggie Bowl and ate nearly every drop of it, it was so good. One of the defining features of this bowl is the seasoned kale buried within the delicious toppings.
There really are greens way down towards the bottom of the bowl. I scoured the internet and their cookbooks for this greens recipe and was rewarded with this video on how to make them! I began making them frequently, upping my greens intake by 80% as I never really ate them that much before. This of course, was at the height of the kale craze of the 2010s.
Somehow over the years though, I developed a different version than theirs, one that I honestly think I like better than theirs, though it would probably overwhelm this venerated veggie bowl. Definitely pair these with mellower flavors like mashed potatoes or butter rice.
Somehow my kale recipe began to incorporate sesame oil, minced garlic, and a bit more soy sauce, but it masks the kale-ness of kale for kale haters who are willing to try kale to the point that it might actually convert them. Or at the very least, it might make them get their greens in more frequently than before.
Seasoned Kale
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
- 8 oz washed and chopped kale (I like the pre bagged kind)
- 1-2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 dash red pepper flakes
- 3 shakes ground black pepper
Instructions
- Heat the sesame oil in a large frying pan over medium high heat until shimmering and fragrant.
- Add the minced garlic and spread around the pan evenly.
- Add the kale to the pan and use tongs to begin moving it around the pan, taking care not to drop leaves outside of the pan.
- Drizzle the soy sauce evenly around the pan. It will sizzle, but this will begin to wilt the greens. Reduce the heat to medium.
- Use tongs to move the greens around the pan for no more than two minutes. You'll see the greens visibly reduce.
- Season to taste with the red pepper flakes and ground black pepper.
- Remove from heat and serve. Garnish with additional pepper(s) as desired.
