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Oh my, this is a good one. I never would have thought to pair kale with tahini (thank you to my friend Peg for the suggestion), but it’s great!
Sort of reminiscent of a popular Japanese dish with spinach and sesame gomasio.
The slightly bitter green kale does a happy dance with the acidic lemon and salty richness of the tahini sauce. Very easy to pull together.
Would make an excellent addition to a Thanksgiving or holiday spread. Enjoy. (And as my dad says, eat your greens!)
Sautéed Kale with Tahini Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound kale, well rinsed
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- Salt
- 4 tablespoons tahini (use tahini made with toasted sesame seeds, not raw)
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 3-4 tablespoons water
- 1 teaspoon dark sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds for garnish
Method
1 Remove kale ribs, slice kale: Using a sharp paring knife, cut out the rib of each kale leaf. Discard or compost. Slice the leaves roughly 1/2-inch thick.
2 Cook onion and garlic: Heat olive oil on medium high heat in a large sauté pan. When hot, add the chopped onion. Cook for a couple of minutes until translucent. Add the garlic and cook for a minute more.
3 Add kale to the onions: Add the kale to the sauté pan. Even if you have a pretty large pan, the kale will be practically falling out of it. Put in as much as you can and use tongs to turn over and mix with the oil and onions.
After a couple minutes the kale should wilt a bit so you can add the rest of the raw kale.
Cook, turning the kale leaves over occasionally until the kales leaves have wilted and are tender. Sprinkle a little salt over the kale leaves while cooking.
4 Make tahini sauce: While the kale is cooking, whisk together the tahini, lemon juice, water, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and dark sesame oil. Add more salt and sesame oil to taste.
5 Toss cooked kale with sauce: Once the kale is done, toss in the sauce, reserving a little to drizzle on top.
Serve, topped with a little sauce and toasted sesame seeds.
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Elise Bauer is the founder of Simply Recipes. Elise launched Simply Recipes in 2003 as a way to keep track of her family's recipes, and along the way grew it into one of the most popular cooking websites in the world. Elise is dedicated to helping home cooks be successful in the kitchen. Elise is a graduate of Stanford University, and lives in Sacramento, California.
Sautéed Kale with Tahini Sauce
Delicious! A while back my son made a kale salad and drizzled tahini over it. I was a bit dubious but it was great. I thought about the tahini and kale combo tonight but wanted to saute the kale instead of fixing a salad. Your recipe hit the spot! I fixed an Aleppo pepper chicken dish and this kale was the perfect accompaniment.
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Just made this with kale from the farmers market and tahini that I made myself. Excellent and delicious recipe. Thank you….
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I wrap the mid rib pieces in saran and freeze to dice later for soup…
Elise,
OMG. I’m not much of a commenter, tho I’ve been reading for a while. This is INCREDIBLE!
Kudos! I can’t get enough of the tahini+kale flavor, though it’s a combo I’ve never tasted before.
WELL DONE!
So glad you liked it Crystal! ~Elise
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Great idea just to toast some sesame seeds and puree. Elise, how much toasted sesame seeds do you use to get 4 tbsp of tahini?
No idea. We just made a big batch of it. ~Elise