Mashed Kale With Potatoes

Hello, chefs! 😋

Kale is known here as autumn and winter seasonal vegetables, we prepare it in salads, or in vegetable soups. But most often mashed together with potatoes and used as a side dish.

Kale is said to be a very healthy vegetable with the most vitamins and minerals.

Kale contains enough vitamins and minerals to be considered a surplus; for example, vitamin C is found in the leaves at twice the level of lemons and calcium at twice the level of cow's milk. Like other brassicas, but again in larger quantities, kale is rich in glucosinolates, flavonoids, carotenoids, phenolic acids, and other bioactive compounds, which are useful in particular for their protective effect against modern diseases. It stimulates the metabolism, detoxifies, cleanses the blood vessels and digestive tract, protects against excess free radicals, and is an important preventive anti-cancer food as much as broccoli, if not more so. (translated from Slovenian, source)

Superfood, I would say. But some people still don't like the taste. 😁

I should mention here that this is the vegetable that has done best in my field. More now, even though it's very cold, below freezing, it persists and if I need it I go looking for it, so I have fresh. I don't even need to store it or pickle it.

Leaves can be up to a meter long. In the picture above, you can see that I have two types of kale, one with green leaves and one with purple leaves. There is no difference in taste between the two. Well, they say that the dark one has more healing properties.

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So, what do we need for mashed kale with potatoes?

a few kale leaves
two larger potatoes
two onions (I have one white onion and one shallot)
two larger garlic cloves
salt, pepper, and a tablespoon or two of olive oil

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First, I washed the kale in the running water and removed the stems.
The stems are also used in cooking, but they take a very long time to cook and if you cook them together with potatoes, the potatoes are completely overcooked.

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Then I cut the onion, garlic, and potatoes into medium-sized pieces. Half of the garlic to save for later.

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Put everything in a large pot and cover it with water and salt.

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Let it cook for at least 15 minutes on high heat or until the potatoes are cooked.

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When the potatoes are cooked, the kale is still crisp, so scoop it out and drain the water.

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Cut the cooked kale into smaller pieces again with a knife.

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Prepare a frying pan or wok, pour two tablespoons of olive oil to heat it well scoop out the cooked potatoes and the onion and garlic from the pan where everything was cooking and add to the hot oil to sizzle.

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Add the chopped kale and the garlic you have left and mash it all together with a wooden fork (I have a Teflon dish and any metal will destroy it) so that all the liquid evaporates.

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Mashed kale with potatoes is done!
Add salt or pepper to taste. As I mentioned, this dish is served here as a side dish, but of course, it can also be eaten on its own.