To read about Uncle Fred, please refer to ‘Uncle Fred, The Godfather‘

(Active preparation time 15 minutes, cooking time 15 minutes)

Ingredients:

2 lbs. kale, washed, thick stems removed and discarded, leaves and tender stems chopped coarse*
2 cups of oil-cured black olives, preferably pitted
6 cloves of garlic, sliced
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons crushed hot chili peppers
2 cups water

Preparation:

1. Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium high heat.
2. Add the garlic and sauté until translucent. Do not burn.
3. Add the olives, and stir well. When they begin to puff up, shut the heat and add the hot pepper flakes.
4. Return the heat to medium, add the kale in bunches and stir continuously, adding water and kale until the kale cooks down.
5. Cover, steam on high for 10 minutes.

* Kale is usually sold in bunches in the supermarket. It has to be washed, trimmed and hand chopped before serving. Recently we discovered pre-washed, trimmed and chopped ‘Kale Greens’ packaged and sold like washed spinach and salad greens. It is produced by Glory Foods, which produces other similarly packaged, fresh, ready to cook produce that are great time savers.