This evening I was ready to make yet another Asian inspired chicken dish. When I looked out into my vegetable garden and saw the huge kale plants and the rosemary with fresh spring shoots I decided to change direction. Chicken, garlic, rosemary, orange and kale came to mind.

The huge kale plants (with the white flowers) outside my kitchen window!

Kale can be tough so I shred it finely and sauté it for a while, to make it palatable. I know kale is one of the new ‘superfoods’, but I must admit I cannot really embrace it. My plants are the Portuguese variety which grow to over 150cm in height. At this time of year they have beautiful white flowers, a lovely sight just outside my kitchen window. The bugs also love kale, so I pick the youngest leaves and THOROUGHLY rinse them under cold salted water. Luckily the leaves are tough, so the rinsing does not bruise them. Then I remove the spine, roll the leaves and slice them thinly.

If you do not have kale or the appetite for it, white cabbage or tender stem broccoli will be a good alternative.

Rosemary grows well under most conditions. During the winter I cut the old woody plants back quite heavily and this allows lovely spring growth, ready for summer barbeques!

Thriving Rosemary

I love rosemary, orange and garlic together. Often this is the flavouring for my roast chicken or pork, and of course, it is a favourite with lamb.

You can easily substitute the chicken breasts with pork fillets in this dish.

Rosemary indicates that the recipe has a Mediterranean feel, so the ideal accompaniment would be an Italian pasta such as penne, but I chose to go ‘fusion’ and rather used an Asian rice noodle. They are so easy to prepare, you merely our boiling water of the dry pasta and let it stand until required. As Mark was out at a meeting I could happily prep all the components to heat and assemble when he returned.

I sautéed the onion and kale, marinated the chicken and ‘cooked’ the pasta ahead of time. The wok was ready to quickly stir fry the chicken and add the other components to heat it together.

As usual I could not resist a chilli, by all means either omit it or add more if you wish!

Recipe: Chicken with orange, rosemary and kale