Mashed Potatoes & Kale with Roasted Chicken

November 4th, 2008

Lately, I have not been reading recipes all the way through before I’m ready to cook. I’m not sure what I was thinking when I bookmarked Mashed Potatoes With Kale — not only is it dairy (both milk and butter are added, so not a match to serve with chicken), but the instructions seem unnecessarily complex for a dish that’s so basic. What I took away from the recipe was that I wanted to combine the red potatoes and Toscano kale I had from my CSA, with scallions for a punch of flavor.

I microwaved four medium potatoes until tender and set them aside, and simmered the kale (once the ribs had been removed) in salted water for about 5 minutes. I ran the kale quickly under cold water just to cool it down, then squeezed out as much moisture as possible with my hands and threw it in my food processor. Using a chopping blade, I pulsed the kale a few times until it was finely minced. Then I mashed the skin-on potatoes with the kale, plus a small bunch of finely-chopped scallions, some olive oil, and salt and pepper. It was really delicious — really, how could mashed potatoes not be? J. liked it too, but the boys wouldn’t touch it. It was good as cold leftovers today, too.

The best news of the evening, though, was that both boys ate the roasted chicken! G. has been hit or miss eating “big chicken” — aka drumsticks — lately. He ate the better part of both drumsticks this time. A. normally will not eat chicken at all, but tonight when I put it on his plate he tried it and said he’d like more! Specifically, he asked for more “smooth chicken” — I’d pulled some medium-sized, skinless pieces of meat off the bone for him. It was incredibly satisfying to me to have them both eat and enjoy the main part of this dinner.

Entry Filed under: CSA, Veggie Sides