Kale - Take 1

Kale was definitely an ambitious undertaking for my third post, but I saw it in the vegetable market, and gosh darn it, I wanted it!

Kale is one of those veggies that I was only introduced to later in life. I'd made it a few times before Henry was born, and both Jason (my husband) and I liked it. Since I hope to make kale many more times in the future, I figured it was time to introduce it to Henry. The recipe I made was very basic and simple - it consisted of onion, garlic, olive oil, chickpeas, kale, salt, and lemon (see below for approximate recipe). One thing to note about kale...it wilts down to nothing. So fill your pot, let it wilt, and then continue to add more kale.
This was the finished product:
When I went to feed it to Henry, I started with the item I thought he would find most offensive first. Since he's shunned chickpeas before, that's what I gave him first. Shocker - he wasn't a taker. I then put a piece of kale on his highchair. Again he would not take it. I tried to put it in his mouth - he made a face, and spit it out. That's when I got creative. I had made some rotini pasta to serve with the kale dish. I know Henry LOVES pasta. So, I intertwined the kale with the pasta so he couldn't get it off.

The next thing I knew, Henry ate 5 pieces of pasta/kale! I even saw him accidentally take a plain piece of kale and eat it. Granted, it only happened once, but that's definitely progress. When he stopped going for the pasta, I added some banana to his tray (which he LOVES). He mostly ate the banana, but in the midst of grabbing for banana, I do believe another pasta/kale piece got thrown in. I still don't think Henry will grab for kale the next time I make it, but I'm hoping that maybe he'll at least consider it...

Anyway, here's how I made my kale:

1.5 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion

2 cloves garlic

1 giant bunch kale, rinsed and shredded (make sure to remove the rib/stem)

1 - 15 oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed (note: make sure to rinse well...this removes a lot of the extra sodium)

salt to taste

zest and juice from half a lemon (because that's what I had on hand)

Directions:

In large pot or large skillet, sautee onion and garlic in oil until onions are translucent. Add chickpeas and stir together. Put in as much kale as you can fit, and let it wilt (see picture above). Continue to do so until all kale is in the pot. Add salt to taste. Sautee kale with other ingredients until it looks wilted and is easy to chew. Then, turn heat off, add in the lemon zest and lemon juice and mix together.

Depending on whether there are leftovers, I may try the kale out on Henry again tomorrow. If not, I still have another bunch of kale in the fridge, so he'll definitely be having it in some form in the next few days. Wish me luck!

Happy and (mostly) healthy eating!