Thanksgiving is one week away, and this is the first year that I get to play head chef! I’m nervous and excited… except for the Turkey, for which I’m only nervous.
I wanted to included mashed potatoes in my line-up, but all of the recipes that I was looking at seemed old fashioned and boring. I finally retreated back to Heidi and her always healthy and surprising recipes on 101 Cookbooks and found a recipe for Kale and Garlic Mashed Potatoes. I made them dairy free and they’re incredible! If you need another side dish during this holiday season, I highly recommend this one.
While I was cooking, I was getting increasingly anxious thinking about how many hours of my much needed vacation would be spent in the kitchen. To calm myself down, I decided I needed some music. I plugged in my ipod and scrolled to my latest obsesssion, Morgan Holland. Her EP, Old/New, is the perfect balance of soothing melodies, a haunting voice, and cheer-me-up lyrics. If you need a good cooking mix, download it on iTunes!
Ingredients
3 pounds potatoes, peeled and cut in big chunks
sea salt
black pepper
4 tblspns olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 bunch kale, de-stemmed and chopped
1/2 cup (or more) almond milk (or regular milk/cream if you are a dairy eater)
5 scallions, chopped
fried shallots, for garnish (optional)- but this is the best part!
Directions:
– Put potatoes in a large pot and cover with water. Add a pinch of salt.
– Bring the water to a boil and boil for 20 minutes
– Heat two tablespoons of olive oil in a large pan on medium heat
– Add the garlic, kale, a big pinch of salt, and saute for only 1-2 minutes
– Mash the potatoes with a potato masher or fork
– Slowly stir in the milk a few big splashes at a time
– If the potatoes seem dry, keep adding milk until it’s creamy and thick
– Season with salt and pepper
– Put the kale on top of the potatoes and stir it just a little
– Transfer to serving bowl, make a hole in the center of the potatoes and pour the remaining olive oil
– Sprinkle with the fried scallions (to fry, saute finely chopped in a generous amount of olive oil until crispy. Dry on a paper towel)
