Wild and Crazy Palate: Kale + Feta + Cranberries

Happy Sunday evening, monkeys!

I've had an extremly productive weekend--including editing two (!) entire weddings worth of photos and attending another.  I also squeezed in time for a quick trip to the farmer's market and whipped up one of my favorite go-to dinners.  (When I say "favorite go-to dinners" I mean I make this ALL THE TIME.  I have made it twice since Wednesday.)

I first had this dish at my friends Meredith S.H. and Adam G.'s house.  They lived at 1722 Kilbourne and I lived at 1722 19th. I think this is what really brought us together.

When they lived in DC (they now live in the great state of MINNESOTA and I just visited them--way more on that another time), their dining room table had a great big bench instead of chairs and the first floor of their row house had really high ceilings. There was always good music playing a I remember everything I ate there was fantastic... but this was one item I knew I needed to recreate in my own kitchen.

Here's what you need:

1/3 cup chopped currants or raisins (I always almost use dried cranberries.)
1/2 cup hot water
1/3 cup diced walnuts (life is too short to dice walnuts--throw 'em in whole or in pieces)
2 bunches (approx. 2 lbs) kale (you will need more than this, the kale cooks down to nothing... also, I've started using beet greens, chard, and other hearty greens and they all work well.)
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 clove chopped garlic
1/2 cup feta cheese
salt and pepper

Note: I almost never measure anything in this recipe.  The amounts are REALLY just suggestions.  But don't try to triple the amount of feta as I did once in a moment of recipe rebellion. It doesn't work as well as you'd think!

Here's what you're supposed to do:

Soak 1/3 cup chopped currants or raisins in 1/2 cup hot water. Toast 1/3 cup diced walnuts in a large skillet (without oil) while preparing the kale for cooking (wash kale, cut off stems, shake dry, and slice in 1" wide strips). Don't try to skip this step. Once I put the kale leaves in without cutting them up and it did NOT work out. 

Remove walnuts, set them aside.

Now heat 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil in the empty large skillet. Saute the chopped garlic briefly, then add the sliced kale, tossing lightly. The greens will wilt quickly (toss it constantly so they wilt evenly), salt as desired, and add the currants (or cranberries/raisins) with their hot water. Leave covered over medium heat for about ten minutes, longer if you want the kale to be less chewy. Toss often, adding water if necessary (to keep kale from drying out). Water should be absorbed when finished cooking. (If you're using greens that are NOT kale, I've found this whole water situation is unnecessary, but it is crucial for kale since it is so chewy.)

Toss with toasted walnuts and feta cheese and serve. Try serving over cooked pasta if desired. (It is desired, especially with whole wheat pasta.)  Makes a very good leftover (if any is left-over!), too!

Looks like a place mat, right?  Well, it's a pillow case.  Ha!

And if you know me, you know I am a fan of non-traditional breakfast items (breakfast is awesome, but why should we limit eating it to the morning?)  I say--if it's good, eat it whenever you want! And the same goes for this recipe.  I've eaten it for breakfast before and let me tell you, it is really good cold, out of the tupperware, in your pajamas, while checking your work email on your iphone before 8:00 AM.

P.S. I just read this great post on The Pinoeer Woman's blog about food photography.  I love lots of her suggestions but am having some trouble with the "only photograph food in natural light" suggestion.  OBVIOUSLY this is true (photos 1 and 2 in this post were taken around 3:00 and photo 3 was taken around 8:00, hence the artificial light in the last one), but it does present a little challenge for those of us who are not at home with camera and food blogging time during the daylight hours. #firstworldproblems