Kale

Have you had kale? If you have not, you seriously need to give it a try.

Kale is a form of cabbage and it is considered to be a highly nutritious vegetable with powerful antioxidant properties. It's also considered to be anti-inflammatory.

Kale contains sulforaphane (particularly when chopped or minced), a chemical believed to have potent anti-cancer properties.

I personally had never had kale until last night. We had a friend over and I decided to try a recipe out of my Williams Sonoma One Pot Cookbook, Baked Chicken Parmesan. This particular recipe calls for the baked chicken to be placed on a bed of kale. I had seen Rachael Ray de-stem kale many times, so I figured why not give it a try.

To begin, coat the bottom of your skillet with olive oil and heat over medium high heat. At the same time pre-heat your oven to 400*F.

Gently place your chicken breasts in the olive oil and let brown. About 7-10 minutes depending on the size of your chicken. Only turn the chicken once!

After your chicken is partially cooked remove from oil and set aside.

Take your de-stemmed kale and place directly into your hot skillet – let the kale begin to wilt, this takes only a couple of minutes. As your kale begins to wilt you will notice it changes in color from faded green to a gorgeous hunter green. At this time it should begin to smell a little like brussels sprouts. Take a taste test....trust me!

Once the kale has wilted, place the kale on the bottom of an oven safe roasting pan.

Place browned chicken breasts on top of kale.

Top chicken breasts with homemade marinara OR pre-made marinara sauce from the grocery store.

Take 2 slices of fresh mozzarella cheese and place on top of chicken. Then sprinkle evenly with parmesan cheese.

Place in oven for 20 minutes or until cheese is melted and golden brown.

Give it a try and let me know how it turns out! I'm excited to find more recipes with kale as an ingredient. In fact I'm planning on cooking more kale tonight just as a side dish.

Enjoy!!
-AKL