Vegan kale in chili-peanut sauce with ginger-balsamic cranberries

Ingredients for 2 servings:

• 400 g kale, frozen or from the jar
• 2 small onions
• 2 garlic cloves
• 30 g peanuts, roasted, unsalted
• 400 ml vegetable stock
• 80 g peanut butter, creamy
• ½ tsp Sriracha sauce
• ½ tsp mint, dried
• ¼ tsp cumin powder
• ¼ tsp nutmeg, freshly grated
• 2 tsp peanut oil, roasted
• e.g. salt and pepper
• 50 g cranberries, dried
• 70 ml boiling water for soaking
• 7 g ginger root
• 1 tsp raw cane sugar
• 2 tsp balsamic vinegar, dark
• 1 tsp oil for frying

Instructions

Working time approx. 10 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 10 minutes; Total time approx. 20 minutes

Place the dried cranberries in a small bowl, pour boiling water over them, and let them swell. Peel the onions and garlic, then finely dice both. Peel and finely chop the ginger. Roughly chop the peanuts. Prepare the kale according to the package instructions. If using jarred kale, it should be unseasoned except for any salt. You can also use unseasoned, already cooked leftovers from the day before, as the kale is only heated through. Strain the soaked cranberries and collect the soaking water in a bowl. Sauté the cranberries and chopped ginger in oil in a small saucepan over medium heat for about 2-3 minutes. Then add the raw cane sugar, the soaking water, and the balsamic vinegar, and simmer over medium heat until the liquid has become syrupy and almost evaporated. Meanwhile, heat the peanut oil in a pan and sauté the onions and garlic over medium heat for about 4 minutes. Add the chopped peanuts and fry briefly. Then pour in the vegetable stock and bring to a boil. Add the dried mint and ground cumin. Stir in the peanut butter and let it melt. Add the sriracha sauce. Now add the cooked kale to the sauce, stir, and bring everything back to a boil. Add grated nutmeg and season with salt and pepper. When serving, scatter the cranberries over the kale. I served it with rice, so the serving size becomes a main meal. The cooking time does not include the kale. Notes: The fruity-sweet, slightly sour cranberries, together with the citrusy ginger, provide a nice contrast to the mildly spicy peanut sauce, and in combination with the other spices, the kale loses its dominant cabbage flavor. This makes this a dish for anyone who doesn’t usually like the intense flavor of kale. The peanuts add a crunchy texture.