In our sixth week of the Dark Days Challenge, we learned to appreciate curly kale. We love love love lacinato/Tuscan/dinosaur/black and Red Russian varieties, but for some reason we (*cough* Erik *cough*) discriminate against the standard curly variety. Like most biases, we just had to meet an individual curly kale recipe in “person” to let go of our stereotypes. Oh, also, the chorizo helps.
We loved it so much, we didn’t take a single photo. [Update: oops, we did. I just wasn't on top of things - Erik 
]
Smoky Kale and Chorizo
Serves 2
| Amount | Ingredient | Preparation | Where we bought it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 bunch | Curly kale | A little less than a pound, if you buy it loose | Somerville Winter Farmers Market, but I forget exactly which farmer. |
| 2 1/2 tsp | Salt | Divided | |
| 1 link (4-5 ounces) | Chorizo | Diced or crumbled | Stillman’s Turkey Farm |
| 2 cloves | Garlic | Chopped | Keith’s Farm |
| 1/4 tsp | Smoked paprika | ||
| 1/4 tsp | Ground cumin | ||
| 1/8 tsp | Ground cinnamon | ||
| 2 tsp | Honey | Northshire Farm | |
| 1 tsp | Sherry vinegar |
Directions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil with 2 teaspoons of the salt.
- While the water is coming to a boil, rinse the kale, remove the stems, and tear the leaves into large pieces.
- Once the water is boiling, add the kale and let it cook for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, taste a leaf to make sure it’s not rubbery. If it is, cook for another minute or so. Once it’s done, drain the kale in a colander – pressing to remove as much water as possible.
- Meanwhile, heat large cast iron skillet over medium heat. Once it’s warm, add the chorizo and cook for 4 to 5 minutes until it just starts to brown.
- While the chorizo is cooking, measure the spices and remaining 1/2 teaspoon of salt into a small bowl.
- Once the chorizo has cooked for 4 to 5 minutes, add the garlic and cook, stirring, for about 30 seconds.
- Push the chorizo and garlic to one side and dump the spice mixture directly onto the pan. Stir the spices around for a few seconds to toast them. Once you can smell the spices, mix them into the chorizo.
- Add the kale to the skillet and stir for a minute to combine and reheat the kale a little.
- Turn off the heat and add the honey and sherry vinegar, stirring to combine.
At my house, we’re addicted to kale. I love its hardiness, the way in which kale is the very, very last vegetable standing in the field. So, for these reasons and more, I’m pretty psyched to try out your recipe. Thanks!
I agree! I could eat a kale salad every day in the winter. Spring greens taste so unsubstantial to me by the time they’re available.
Thanks for the great recipe. We have a bunch of kale out in the garden right now under some protection. We have been needing to use it up but we have grown tired of all our kale recipes. We are headed to the store tonight for our bi-weekly shopping trip, we’ll have to pick up some chorizo and try this one!
[...] their sixth week of the Dark Days Challenge, Lindsay and Erik from eatlocal365 learned to appreciate curly kale. They are big fans of the lacinato/Tuscan/dinosaur/black and Red [...]