Taste: Kale Sauté 

Is a vegan friend coming for dinner? Do you want to add more veggies in your diet? Are you trying out Meatless Mondays? No matter the motivation, we could all benefit from expanding our meal repertoires to include more veggies prepared in delicious new ways.

This recipe is flexible enough to serve as a side dish or main. Make it heartier by adding garbanzos or cannellini beans. I enjoy it for breakfast, drizzled with Sriracha–in a bowl or wrapped in a tortilla if I’m short on time and need to eat on the run. It’s also a tasty accompaniment to scrambled or fried eggs. Disclaimer: I am happy to eat pretty much anything covered in Sriracha.

Cook up a big batch on the weekend and enjoy it through the week for any meal, with or without vegans.

Ingredients
1 clove garlic, minced
1 small shallot, minced
1 tsp. ginger, minced
1 8 oz package mushrooms, sliced
2 14.5 oz cans diced tomatoes, undrained
2 cups kale, chopped
1 cup cooked quinoa

1 TBSP Extra virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper

Instructions
1. Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium high heat. Add garlic, shallot, and ginger and stir. Sauté about 1 minute, till ingredients are fragrant and softer.

2. Add sliced mushrooms to pan and stir. Sprinkle with a couple pinches of salt and stir. Sauté mushrooms until they release their moisture, darken, and soften, about 3 minutes.

3. Add kale to pan, sprinkle with a couple pinches of salt, and stir. Pour both cans of tomatoes into pan (including juices) and stir. Turn heat down slightly and let simmer for about 5 minutes, until kale softens.

4. Stir in quinoa and taste. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper, tasting as you go.

5. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Shopping notes:

If you’re watching your sodium intake, be sure to use low-sodium tomatoes or feel free to use fresh, ripe ones. If using fresh tomatoes, you will need to add additional liquid such as water or broth.

Don’t like or kale, or have different greens on hand? Just swap them in and adjust your cooking time if needed. Same for quinoa–feel free to use a different grain like rice or barley.

What is your favorite way to prepare greens? Please share in the comments.

Want some more vegan recipe ideas? Click here to purchase Forks Over Knives – The Cookbook: Over 300 Recipes for Plant-Based Eating All Through the Year. A portion of your purchase from Amazon will go towards maintaining my blog. Thanks for your support!