Festive Kale with Fennel, Cranberries, and Walnuts

This colorful kale dish featuring fennel, cranberries, and walnuts makes a lovely Thanksgiving side dish, but you need not wait for a special occasion to enjoy it. Recipe contributed by Ellen Kanner. Photos by Hannah Kaminsky.

Festive Kale with Fennel, Cranberries, and Walnuts

This colorful kale dish featuring fennel and walnuts makes a lovely Thanksgiving side dish, but you need not wait for a special occasion to enjoy it.

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Course: Vegetable side dish

Cuisine: Healthy / Thanksgiving

Diet: Vegan, Vegetarian

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

Servings: 6 to 8

Author: Veg Kitchen

Ingredients

• 1 fennel bulb
• 2 lbs kale roughly 8 cups, packed
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• ¼ cup sherry
• 1 pinch red pepper flakes
• ⅓ cup dried cranberries
• ⅓ cup chopped walnuts
• salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Instructions

• Remove stalks and fronds from fennel. Chop fennel bulb into bite-sized cubes and pieces.
• Remove stems from the kale leaves, and cut the kale into bite-sized pieces or strips. You can discard the stems, or slice them very thinly and use as well.
• Heat oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Add chopped fennel to pot and sauté for 8 to 10 minutes, or until tender.
• Add kale by the handful, stirring gently until wilted, but still bright green, about 8 minutes. Stir in sherry, pepper flakes and cranberries.
• Spread walnuts on a rimmed baking sheet. Toast for 10 minutes in a 350°F oven or toaster oven until golden brown and fragrant. Or, you can toast them on a dry skillet over medium heat. Let the walnuts cool briefly, then stir into the fennel and kale mixture.
• Season with salt and pepper, transfer to a bowl, and serve.

Vegan-ize any recipe!Grab our free vegan cheat sheet, packed with my favorite easy substitutions to make any recipe vegan.

Ellen Kanner writes the Meatless Monday column for The Huffingon Post, and is the Edgy Veggie, a syndicated columnist.

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