Potato and Kale Gratin

Do you remember life before kale?
Seriously, WHAT was life before kale?
An empty meaningless void, like being in an airport without wifi, a series finale, your favorite restaurant updating its menu, Gmail telling you to pick a new password, admitting that your favorite pair of jeans is too worn down and finally throwing them away.
That sort of void.
In other words, could life before kale really be considered living?

Without kale we would be subjected to spinach, chard and lettuce.
How sad.
And it doesn’t really matter if kale is chock-full of vitamins and calcium, if it makes you live longer, feel stronger, may even fix the health care deficit and ultimately save the world.
Kale tastes good and that’s why we eat it.
Wait, did I just said “we”?
Let me rephrase that...that’s why I eat it.
Pesto, bite-sized cakes, a casserole, green juice, chips, kale is everywhere in my life.

One of the reasons I love kale is because of its texture, which lends to a great variety of ways to work with. Steamed, sauteed, baked, fried, you can’t go wrong with kale.
I can’t remember how I stumbled across this recipe, I can only assume I was looking for something related to kale. Or maybe I was looking for a gratin recipe. Or maybe both.
Who cares, right?
Anyways, this is a “great gratin”.
Just for fun, try saying "great gratin" 20x fast.
Doesn’t it feel like “How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck would chuck wood? A woodchuck would chuck how much a woodchuck would chuck if a woodchuck would chuck wood”?
Okay, back to this “great gratin”.
It’s great because it’s super easy to make, it tastes amazing, and everyone will love it.
Some people may argue that there’s potatoes, heavy cream and cheese, but hey there’s like a ton of super healthy kale.
You can definitely indulge this one time.

Potato and Kale Gratin Print this recipe! Adapted from OhMyVeggies

Ingredients
Serves 8

1 large bunch (roughly about 1 lb / 453 gr) kale, stems removed and leaves torn into bite size pieces
2 lbs / 900 gr potatoes, very thinly sliced (about ⅛-inch)*
1 cup / 1.8 oz / 50 gr grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup / 240 gr heavy cream (or creme fraiche)
1 teaspoon fine grain salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
Pinch of ground nutmeg
2 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces

*alternatively you can use sweet potatoes

Directions

Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C) and place a rack in the middle.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt the boiling water, and add the kale. Boil for 2-3 minutes, until wilted. Drain in a colander and allow to cool slightly. Squeeze out excess water and set aside.
In a bowl whisk together cream, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Set aside.
Grease a 9x13 baking dish and place half of the potatoes in an even layer, top with kale, then top kale with half of the Parmesan cheese.
Top with remaining potatoes and sprinkle with the rest of the Parmesan cheese.
Pour cream mixture over potatoes and dot with butter,
Cover baking dish with aluminum foil and bake for 25 minutes.
Remove foil and bake for further 25 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender and the cheese is golden brown.
Allow to sit 15 minutes before serving.

Nutrition facts

One serving yields 314 calories, 19 grams of fat, 31 grams of carbs and 10 grams of protein.