There are a lot of things I still have issues with when it comes to cooking.
Almost every time I try, something goes wrong with my mashed potatoes. They are never how I want them.
Browning chicken in a pan? Forget it. I’m so fidgety and get impatient and I always flip it too quickly.
For the first few years we were married, I couldn’t cook pork right for the life of me. It was always super dry and way overcooked. I remember one night a few years ago, I was trying a lemon pasta recipe and fish. I’m not sure if I messed up the recipe or the recipe itself was just bad, but the entire dinner was horrible. We both took one bite, threw it all away, and made sandwiches.
We’ve eaten pasta that has been cooked almost to mush, casseroles that looked like they had already been eaten, and a bunch of other sad attempts at new recipes. So, yes, I’ve learned a lot more than I thought I would in the first few years of marriage, but I have to remind you that, while I usually post the good here (and sometimes the bad), this blog wasn’t up and running when there were more bad nights than good.
A friend told me this week that her boyfriend was looking at my pie recipe the other day and said something about Nick being lucky with all this good food.
And I’m sure most days, it looks like all we eat is pie, cookies, brownies, and sometimes a salad. Those things typically turn out good, but I reminded her that it took a while for me to get where I am now (still making mistakes, daily, and having to throw things away) and we ate a lot of not-so-great meals in the meantime.
One food that took me a while to master is greens. I didn’t grow up eating greens, unless you count salads. My closest encounter to greens was watching Popeye down his cans of spinach.
And there were many, many cooking attempts that went uneaten by both of us.
A surefire way to get Nick to like them in the beginning was to cook some bacon in the pan and then cook the greens in the fat. Bacon fat = flavor. But we don’t always have bacon in the house. And I didn’t want to only cook greens in bacon fat.
One night, I threw some stuff together in a pan, and it worked. And Nick really liked it! I know when he really likes something because he’ll actually tell me that he likes it.
It is simple and easy and healthy – which is good considering we do have baked goods in the house all the time.
If my husband likes this version of kale, I’m pretty sure anyone would like it.
Maple Mustard Kale with Apple and Onion
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1 bunch kale, 4-5 cups, washed and chopped into bite size pieces
- 1 small apple, cored and diced
- 1/2 red onion, diced
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1 Tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tsp dijon mustard
In large pan, heat olive oil over medium heat.
Add apple and onion and cook, stirring occasionally until softened.
Stir in the salt, pepper, and kale, and cover the pan with a lid. Let this cook 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Once the kale has started to wilt, stir in the maple syrup and dijon mustard.
Serve warm.
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