I’m sure you have all heard of kale (if not, go read about it here – haha ok, so not quite the kale I had in mind, but who knew it was also a beautiful boy). If I recall correctly, the hype about this, let’s face it, not so special cabbage, started a couple of years back in Europe. Everyone was crazy about it. Kale chips, kale salad, kale pesto, kale soup, not to forget kale juice, the list goes on. Personally, I never understood the hype. Now, I must admit, it’s probably due to my only kale experience in 2014 being unsatisfying – kale crisps from Pret. The flavour wasn’t right, they weren’t satisfying, and honestly – fried cabbage? – not my thing.
In most aspects of life I’m not really one to follow trends, I would say I’m always at least a few trend-generations behind. One of my exes always tried to widen my music-horizon by constantly showing me new songs. I’d listen to them once, label them as terrible, forget them for 6 months, then hear them on the radio, fall in love with them and proudly show my ex the greatest new songs of the month. Classic. And how often did this happen? All the time. After a while he gave up. Understandable. Same story with kale, only here it took me years, not just months. How have I lived without it?? In my opinion, the best use of kale is in a curry. YUMS – so here you go, try it.

Butternut Squash, Sprout, Chickpea and Kale Curry

serves 4

You’ll need

1 onion,finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1.5 inches of fresh ginger, finely chopped
1 butternut squash, peeled and diced
some kale, de-stemmed and chopped
a small tin of chickpeas
500g brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved
6-7 tsp ground cumin
3 tsp ground coriander
1 cinnamon stick
2 tsp ground turmeric
2 tsp curry powder
2 tsp cumin seeds
3 tsp garam masala
4 cardamom pods, slightly crushed
3 cloves
500ml coconut milk
150ml water
some cornflour (optional)
salt and pepper
lemon juice, to taste
basmati rice, to serve

1. If you haven’t chopped your veggies, do that first.
2. Heat a large pot and dry fry the cumin seeds until they start jumping around. Add some oil along with the onions, garlic and ginger. Cook for a few minutes.
3. Now add all of your spices and continue to sizzle for 1-2 minutes before adding the butternut squash and brussels sprouts. Braise these for 2-3 minutes.
4. Stir in the coconut milk and water, cover the pan with a lid and let it simmer for about 10-15 minutes. Mix in the chickpeas and kale and cook for a further 5-10 minutes.
5. Season with salt, pepper, lemon juice, and more spice.
6. Serve with basmati rice.

Rating: 8.5/10

Pretty good, but I think the spices added could be perfected. Also, if you are feeling creative, add some apples :-). Oh and of course, for those who care – it’s vegan ;-).