Spicy Kale and Bacon “Mix-up”

Spicy Kale and Bacon

I struggle to find ways to eat more Kale. I got tired of steaming it with butter, or eating in raw in salads. This recipe is inspired by the Jamaican way of cooking “Callalloo”, a green leaf vegetable used throughout the Caribbean. It’s not done exactly the way it is cooked in Jamaica but instead combines other seasonings to get a unique taste, especially from the addition of the Japanese Rice Wine Vinegar. It makes a quick and satisfying breakfast. Because it has a slightly tart taste (in addition to being spicy), it is best paired, and balanced with a sweet root vegetable like Korean Yam or Caribbean Sweet Potato (Bonaito).

 Ingredients

2 ½ -3 cups coarsely chopped kale

3 slices thick cut bacon, cut in ½ inch pieces

1 tbsp cooking oil

1 shallot

3 cloves garlic

2 Thai Chili

1 Roma Tomato

1 tsp dried Jerk seasoning

½ tsp salt

1 tsp dried thyme

2 green onions, green parts only, sliced thinly

½ tbsp Marukan Japanese vinegar (I use this because it is less acid than ordinary vinegar)

1 tsp Worcester Sauce

Method

1. Cut bacon in ½ inch strips. Render this down in a frying pan with the oil until the bacon pieces are crisp, and most of the fat has been rendered. Remove the bacon bits, and discard all but 1 tablespoon of the bacon fat/oil.
2. Put garlic cloves, Thai chili pepper, and shallot in a small chopper and pulse chop finely. Do the same with the Roma tomato.
3. Fry the chopped seasonings in the pan with the mixed bacon fat/oil until shallots start to sweat. Be careful not to burn the garlic.
4. Add the chopped kale, sliced green onions, jerk seasoning, dried thyme, salt, Worcester sauce, and vinegar to this. Cover and steam for about 5 minutes. Add the bacon bits, and steam for another 5-10 minutes until kale is cooked to desired tenderness.