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Vegan Creamed Kale with Caramelized Shallots & Smoky Crumbs

5 from 7 reader reviews
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Servings 4 -6
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Ingredients

  • ½ cup raw cashews, soaked for at least 2 hours
  • 1 teaspoon light miso
  • 1 teaspoon maple syrup
  • ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1 ½ cups water
  • 4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
  • 2 large shallots, sliced (1 cup sliced shallots)
  • sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste
  • ½ teaspoon sherry vinegar
  • 1 big bunch kale, stems removed and leaves chopped (about 8 cups packed, chopped kale)
  • 1 ½ cups fresh bread crumbs
  • ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
  • ½ teaspoon nutritional yeast
  • ½ teaspoon garlic powder

Instructions

  • Drain and rinse the cashews. In an upright blender, combine the cashews, miso, maple syrup, Dijon mustard, nutmeg, and water. Blend on high until silky smooth and creamy, about 1 full minute. Set aside.
  • Preheat oven to 425°F.
  • Heat a braiser or deep skillet over medium heat. Once it’s hot, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and swirl it around. Add the shallots and stir. Season with salt and pepper. Continue to cook until the shallots are very soft and deep golden brown in colour, about 12-15 minutes. Lower the heat if they’re browning too fast.
  • Once the shallots are caramelized, add the sherry vinegar. Cook this out for about a minute.
  • Start adding the kale a couple handfuls at a time. Stir the kale often, until it wilts slightly and is bright green. Then, add another couple handfuls of kale. Repeat this process until all of the kale is wilted and cooked. Season with salt and pepper.
  • Pour in the cashew cream and stir. It should start bubbling right away. Let it simmer for a minute or so, scraping up the bottom of the pan with your spoon to get any browned bits. It should be a moist and creamy, but not too liquidy.
  • Remove the pan from the heat. Transfer the kale and cashew cream mixture to an 8-inch round or square baking dish. Press everything down in the pan into an even layer.
  • In a medium bowl, toss the bread crumbs with the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil, smoked paprika, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, and some salt and pepper. Once everything’s coated, scatter the bread crumbs over the top of the kale in the baking dish.
  • Bake until the creamed kale is bubbly and browned on the top, about 15 minutes. Enjoy!

Equipment

Recipe Notes

  • If you cannot have cashews, you can substitute them with macadamia nuts (soak for a full 8 hours), pine nuts, or even raw sunflower seeds. If choosing raw sunflower seeds, please ensure that they are fresh. I know that a lot of vegan cooking sites recommend them as a sub for cashews, but I find that they go rancid so quickly and the flavour of that really impacts the final dish.
  • I like to do a mix of curly kale and lacinato kale for this dish! One or the other is also great though. I would avoid purple kale as the colour gets a bit weird after mixing with the cashew cream and baking.
  • I just pulse torn up bits of sourdough in the food processor to make fresh bread crumbs.
  • Use a tasty gluten-free bread for the crumbs to make this gluten-free.
This is the best way to eat a high volume of kale! Vegan creamed kale features a well-seasoned homemade cashew cream, caramelized shallots, and a smoky-spiced crunchy bread crumb topping.