Mashed Sweet Potato and kale

This combination of oven roasted sweet potato and garlic sautéed kale makes for a tasty and healthy side dish to compliment  poultry or steak. The best part about this dish is that is is simple to create. Feel free to substitute the kale with spinach or swiss chard if you prefer. If you haven’t had kale before, I recommend you give it a shot. Only one cup of kale (cooked) supplies almost 90% of the daily value for vitamin C. It has tons of antioxidants and it’s vitamin A content is off the charts.  Sweet potatoes also have great health benefits and are a healthier choice over a regular potato. Just like kale, sweet potatoes are rich in antioxidants and are an anti-inflammatory food.  They can be helpful with conditions such as asthma, osteoarthritis, and rheumatoid arthritis. Dressing:
  • ¼ cup Udo’s oil or flax seed oil
  • 1 splash of apple cider vinegar
  • ½ small lemon – juice and zest
  • 1 clove garlic – minced
  • 1 tsp of honey

Ingredients:

  • 1 bunch kale (chopped into small pieces. Make sure to de-vein the kale first and toss out the tough stems) kale (chopped into small pieces. Make sure to de-vein the kale first and toss out the tough stems)
  • 2 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
  • 2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 sweet potatoes (large)
  • 1 tbs red chili flakes
  • 1 tbs fennel seeds
  • 1 sprig rosemary (fresh - finely chopped)
  • 1 pinch sea salt

Instructions:

Roast two sweet potatoes in the oven for 45 minutes at 400 or until very tender. When it is done, turn off the oven but leave the sweet potatoes inside to keep hot while you cook the kale. (Make sure to pierce the sweet potatoes with a knife or fork in several places before roasting). while the sweet potato is still in the oven, heat the olive oil over medium heat in your skillet. When hot, add the garlic, chilies, rosemary and fennel seeds. After about 30 seconds or so, add the chopped kale and saute for several minutes or until tender. Take the Sweet potato out of the oven and remove the skin. The sweet potato should be nicely caramelized. Put the kale and the sweet potato into a serving dish and mix everything together. The sweet potato should be soft enough to mash up easily. Add salt and pepper to taste. Try this recipe out. Let me know what you think.