What do you do with a fridge full of stinky kale? This has been my latest brainwave – make spinach artichoke dip, with kale instead of spinach, stick it in a tart shell, and call it a meal. It’s artery-clogging rich, but sooo damn good.

In retrospect, it’s not as unhealthy as it sounds. Because if you divide it up into 8 servings, that’s an ounce of cream cheese and less then one tablespoon of sour cream and mayo per serving. I also used light sour cream and olive oil based mayo. It still tastes ridiculously decadent… and it’s got veggies!

Ingredients:

• 1 batch of Pie Dough
• 1 bunch of curly Kale, stems removed
• 1 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
• 1 tbsp Apple Cider
• 12 oz Artichoke Hearts
• 8 oz Cream Cheese (room temp)
• 1/4 cup Sour Cream
• 1/4 cup Mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup Milk
• 3 cloves Garlic
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan Cheese
• Salt and Pepper for seasoning

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 400 F (204 C).
2. Roll out your pie dough, transfer it into a tart pan, gently press it into the pan, trim the edges, poke the base with a fork, lay a piece of parchment across the tart casing and weigh it down with dry beans for blind baking.
3. Bake your tart shell for ~15 minutes, or until the crust is a pale golden color and is no longer wet.
4. Remove from the oven, and set aside to cool, once you have carefully removed the beans and parchment.
5. Heat up the apple cider vinegar and apple cider in the bottom of a lidded sauté pan.
6. Once things begin to steam, add in the kale, a sprinkle of salt, give it a quick stir, and reseal the pan for a couple minutes.
7. Continue to steam-cook the kale until it’s cooked down a bit, but hasn’t started to fully wilt. This only takes a few minutes – remember, the kale will continue to cook in the oven. Set aside when done.
8. Pulse together in a food-processor or blender the garlic, cream cheese, sour cream, mayonnaise, milk, and 1/4 cup parmesan cheese.
9. Season with salt and pepper.
10. Fold in the kale and artichoke hearts.
11. Spread the filling evenly into the tart shell.
12. Sprinkle with the remaining parmesan cheese.
13. Reduce oven to 350 F (176 C).
14. Bake for ~45 minutes, or until golden brown.