Birthday Dinner

In honor of my roommate's birthday, we hosted a small dinner celebration at our apartment yesterday. I made a potato, tomato, and kale stew that is just the kind of hearty dinner you want when it looks like this outside (which it did in New York this week):

... or just when you want to feed your friends something hot and delicious. I really love making this stew with kale, not only because I'm obsessed with kale right now, but because it imparts such a lovely flavor and texture to the dish. Of course, since my roommate is vegan, I made some vegan stew, but I also made a batch with meat for our carnivorous friends. Served over brown rice, this stew made for a filling birthday dinner.

Note: I made this when I came home from work, and I didn't prepare anything before hand, so some things were cooked in such a way as to save time. If I had more time, I probably would have made it a one pot meal, starting by browning the meat, adding the tomatoes, bringing to a boil, and then adding the potatoes and other vegetables and putting everything together to stew away for an hour or more. When making this dish (especially when making it with meat), I suggest you give yourself a bit more time to do it that way. As it was, though, I boiled the potatoes separately and also cooked the meat through separately and didn't really let it stew very long with all of the other ingredients. It still worked out, but I am sure the dish would have been more flavorful the other way.

Potato, Tomato, and Kale Stew

1 yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 bunch kale, stems trimmed, then washed, dried, and chopped
1 12 oz. bag frozen green beans
1.5 pounds potatoes (I used a combination of red and yukon gold), cut into bite-sized pieces
1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
1 pound boneless chuck, trimmed and cut into 1 inch cubes
olive oil
salt and pepper

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add potatoes and cook until just tender, but not falling apart. When the potatoes are done, drain and return to the pot over medium-low heat. Add the can of tomatoes and a bit of salt to taste. Let the potatoes cook in the tomatoes until very tender and falling apart. Meanwhile, heat a bit of olive oil in a large skillet or saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and saute until tender, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Season with a bit of salt. Add kale and cook until leaves are bright green and tender. Season again with a bit more salt. Add frozen green beans and cook until heated through and tender. Add kale mixture to potatoes and tomatoes and mix to incorporate. Taste, and season with salt and pepper accordingly. Set aside half of this stew for your vegan friends.

In a different skillet, heat a bit of olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the beef and brown evenly on all sides. Add the other half of the potato, tomato, and kale stew and mix gently with a wooden spoon to incorporate. Cook over medium-low heat for about 20 minutes. Serve this half of the stew to the carnivores.