Kale With Toasted Giant Beans and Walnuts
By: Laura
Published: Tuesday, December 1, 2009 - 8:22am

Ingredients




1 bunch kale, rinsed, hard stems removed and roughly chopped into finger-length pieces (leave very wet)
2 cloves garlic, smashed
12 ounces can giant beans (butter beans, or habas gigantes), rinsed,drained, and dried w/ 
Olive Oil

Salt, Pepper

3 teaspoons grated reggiano parmigiano
3 teaspoons roughly chopped walnuts
Crushed red pepper flakes

Preparation

1 In a small skillet, toast the walnuts 1-2 min on medium heat. Set aside. 2 In a medium skillet, heat enough olive oil to coat the bottom, medium high flame. 3 Add beans to skillet and sautee without stirring, for 2-3 minutes (should get slightly browned/a little crusty on one side, but not burn). 4 Shake the skillet to turn the beans, making sure none of them stick to the pan, reduce flame to medium. 5 Add smashed garlic cloves, season with salt, pepper, stir until incorporated. 6 Add the kale, making sure the leaves are wet to allow them to steam. 7 Cover and reduce to low heat 3-4 minutes. Stir to allow kale to mix evenly with beans, cover, and cook for an additional 3-4 minutes. 8 Add chopped walnuts, hot pepper flakes. 9 Serve immediately into bowls, sprinkle with parmigiano.

About


This is an adapted recipe, I can't remember who from (!), but is a great winter or fall meal, vegetarian, but yet hearty enough due to the beans. I've also made it with swiss chard, but the dish doesn't work well with softer greens like spinach that don't hold up well. The crustiness of the beans plus the hot pepper flakes makes the dish really have some kick.