Warm winter kale salad

I'm a little behind the trend on this one. Not out of any anti-social position on my part but purely because I've never really stopped to take a look at kale and all it's super powers before.  It  truly is a super-food, one of those ones that is so good for you any which way you cook it.  According to webmd.com, 1 cup of kale has only 36 calories and 5grams of fibre and almost 15% of your daily requirements of calcium and vitamin B6.  Awesome right?!  Spinach is so yesterday.  

I am having one of those weeks where I am trying to kickstart my metabolism and shed a few pounds by Saturday night so salads were definitely on the menu this week.  I started off on Monday by roasting a bunch of vegetables so I could throw them in a salad whenever I felt like it and it has paid off because today was, Kale Day.  I picked up a great big bunch at the store earlier in the week although I had no idea what I was going to do with it, I knew it was going to be good for me if I ate it.  After a few chats to my more trend aware and health conscious friends I decided to give this a go.  Turned out really well and if this is what Kale is supposed to taste like, then I am a happy little girl.

I wasn't too interested in the crispy chilled version of kale and after a morning of solid snowfall I was dead keen on something warmer.  This warm, slightly wilted version was just the ticket for me. You could take or leave the bread but I had bought a beautiful french baguette this morning and it was still warm when I got home so it would have been criminal not to break a bit off.  

Ingredients:
extra virgin olive oil
garlic, crushed
1/4 onion, thinly sliced
beef or vegetable stock
kale, a bunch
walnuts
roasted butternut squash
roasted red peppers
goats cheese
sea salt and cracked pepper

Method:

• heat a medium sized skillet and a good tablespoon of olive oil
• add the onions and cook until translucent
• add the garlic and when fragrant, throw in the roughly torn kale
• add approx 1/4 cup stock,  I actually used some homemade mushroom stock only because it was leftover in my fridge, but beef would work just as awesomely. 
• season with salt and pepper and place the lid on the skillet and cook until the kale is slightly wilted, about 4-5mins
• take the lid off and cook until the stock has almost evaporated another minute or two
• add your previously roasted squash and peppers and toss until warmed through.
• dish up into a bowl and serve with some soft goats cheese or parmesan and a few crushed walnuts on top
• I kept a little of the stock in my bowl today only because I had that lovely bread to dip in but I would probably serve it drained otherwise.  This was the perfect winter salad for me, I enjoyed every delicious mouthful.