Chrissy Teigen's Wilted Kale With Bacon & Apples Recipe

"You can make this recipe ahead and serve it at room temperature, which works for me because I love Thanksgiving sides, and they all can’t come out of the oven piping hot at the eleventh hour!" says the star, who features a version of this "perfect fall" dish in her new cookbook Cravings: All Together.

Photo: Caitlin Bensel

"You can make this recipe ahead and serve it at room temperature, which works for me because I love Thanksgiving sides, and they all can't come out of the oven piping hot at the eleventh hour!" says Chrissy Teigen.

"We all absolutely loved this combination of ingredients. It's got the sweetness of apple, the meaty smokiness of bacon and the earthiness of the kale," says the star, who features a version of this "perfect fall" dish in her new cookbook Cravings: All Together. "It's also super simple to put together."

Teigen's tips for the holidays? "Go easy on yourself! Take on as much as you can do and let other people help out with setting the table, pouring drinks and bringing out snacks for football watching before the meal."

Ingredients

Ingredient Checklist

• 4 bacon slices, chopped
• 6 medium garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 2 small apples, quartered, cored and thinly sliced
• ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1 ¼ cups lower-sodium chicken broth
• ¾ teaspoon kosher salt, divided
• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
• 1 lb. lacinato kale, stemmed and leaves halved crosswise
• Olive oil, for drizzling

Directions

Instructions Checklist

• Step 1Heat a heavy 12-inch high-sided skillet or Dutch oven over medium high until hot, about 2 minutes. Add bacon; cook, stirring often, until bacon is crisp and fat has rendered, 3 to 4 minutes. Tilt skillet to send fat to one side, and scoop bacon onto a paper-towel-lined plate.
• Step 2Reduce heat to medium low. Add garlic to the bacon fat; cook, stirring constantly, until just golden, about 1 minute. Add apples and crushed red pepper, and increase heat to medium. Cook, stirring often, adding ½ cup of the chicken broth as you stir, until apples soften, 4 to 5 minutes.
• Step 3Sprinkle with ¼ teaspoon of the salt and ⅛ teaspoon of the pepper. Add half of the kale; cook, stirring often and drizzling in ½ cup of the broth, until kale wilts and turns bright green, about 3 minutes. Add remaining kale and broth, as needed, until all the kale is tender, 4 to 5 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining ½ teaspoon salt and ⅛ teaspoon pepper. Transfer to a serving bowl; top with bacon, and drizzle with olive oil.

Tips

"If you're pressed for time, use bagged baby kale leaves, which you won't have to de-stem," says Teigen. "And if you don't have apples, firm pears would also work really well."