The first Friday of the month is reserved for recipes. You can see additional First Friday Food posts here.
The Reason:
Kale. Lots and lots and lots of kale. The garden produced more kale than we knew what to do with this year, and we had to find some way to use it. This was one of the pleasant surprises turned up by kale recipe Internet searches.
The Journey:
As with all kale recipes, de-stemming and chopping is the hardest part. I’m not particularly stringent on the de-stemming part, but I do try to take out the largest parts. It also helps to employ child labor.
I would say this doesn’t taste particularly “kale-y”, but is just a fantastically seasoned topping for your tacos. It’s not just a good excuse to use kale; I’d choose it over regular lettuce any day. In fact I’ve eaten the leftover greens just as a salad. Don’t judge until you’ve tried it.
The Verdict:
Soooooo good! SO good.
The citrus is what really puts it over the top, I think. Also, I think I tend to under-season tacos and then just depend on some salsa to give it a little kick. But the seasoning is so good here. Finally, the corn tortillas are the finishing touch. We usually have flour tortillas, but corn tortillas taste so much more authentic to me. (It helps that we have an awesome local tortilla company here!)
The Recipe:
Recipe “upsized” from Cookie and Kate:
- The juice from 1 lime (I mostly use lemon)
- 1 Tablespoon of olive oil
- 1/4 tsp of cumin powder
- 1/2 tsp chili powder
- 1/2 tsp of sea salt
- 1 seeded and finely chopped fresh jalapeños
- 1 tablespoon cilantro, roughly chopped
- 1 bunch of kale (~8 – 10 leaves), washed and dried, stems removed and roughly chopped into bite-sized pieces
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained
- ~8 small (8 inch) corn tortillas
- 1 small avocado, pitted and sliced into strips lengthwise
- 1/4 cup chopped red onion
- crumbled feta cheese for topping
- In a bowl, combine the lime juice, olive oil, cumin, chili powder, sea salt, jalapeño, cilantro and kale. Toss to mix well and set the bowl aside to marinate.
- Warm the beans and minced garlic with a couple of tablespoons of water. You can do this in your smallest sauce pan on the stove over medium-low heat (sauté the garlic in a drizzle of olive oil before adding the beans) or in a bowl in the microwave. Add little splashes of water as necessary. Use a fork to mash up the beans a little and add salt to taste, if necessary.
- Warm the tortilla in a skillet or in the microwave for a few seconds. Top the tortilla with the black bean mixture, sliced avocado, marinated kale (you may end up with more kale than will fit in your burrito, reserve the extra and serve it on the side). Top with red onion and feta. Roll up the burrito by first folding the tortilla over from the bottom to partially cover the beans and greens, then fold in the 2 sides; finish rolling and put the burrito seam side down on a plate. Slice in half, if desired, and serve with sour cream or plain Greek yogurt on the side if you’d like.
Shane Halbach 
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