Steamed Lobster and Sauteed Kale

I chose the easiest recipe humanly possible, since Will put me in charge of making this set of lobster tails. Courtney was kind enough to loan us her steamer over break, specifically for making this recipe. Again, this was one of those EarthFare text deals where we got lobster tails 2/$9. So off I went to the internet to try to find something easy-luckily my first hit was about as easy as it gets. Very rarely do recipes only have three ingredients, especially when you're dealing with some kind of meat or seafood product. But often, it does seem that melted butter with seafood is the best way to go, as it was in this instance. Because the lobster part was fairly simple, I decided to make a new kale recipe that was trickier than others we do, just to challenge myself a little more. I think we were surprised when we both enjoyed it because we thought it would be a soggy, stewed-tasting kale. Instead, it was just flavorful from the garlic, pepper, and vinegar and offered some variety to our pallet. Overall, an excellent meal!

Cooking Notes for Lobster: In the comments section, a lot of people cautioned not to cook the lobster for 8 minutes because it overcooks the tails. Since we had small tails, I knew I had to cook them for less time, so I chose 6 minutes which worked perfectly!

Steamed Lobster Tails (adapted from All Recipes; serves 2)
2 lobster tails
1 tbsp sea salt
1/4 garlic clove, chopped
1/2 cup melted butter

Pour about 1 inch of water in the bottom of a large pot and bring to a boil. Add the salt and garlic, then place a steamer insert inside the pot so that it is just above the water level. Put the lobster tails on the rack and cover the pot. Cover and steam for 6 minutes for smaller tails, closer to 8 for larger tails. Serve with melted butter.

Recipe: All Recipes: Steamed Lobster Tails

Cooking Notes: We sort of halved the recipe and quartered the amount of kale we used, which turned out pretty good. The full recipe would make a huge serving! I've included the amount we made and you can check out the link to see the full recipe.

Basic Sauteed Kale (adapted from Eating Well; serves 2)
1/2 tbsp plus 1 tsp olive oil
1/2 pound kale, ribs removed, chopped or torn
1/4 cup water
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
1 1/2 tsp red-wine vinegar
Salt, to taste

Heat the oil in a sauce pan over medium heat. Add the kale and cook, tossing with a spoon until bright green, about 1 minute. Add water, reduce heat to medium-low, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the kale is tender, about 12 minutes. Push kale to one side, add a little more oil to the empty side and cook garlic and crushed red peppers until it is fragrant, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Remove from the heat. Stir in vinegar, to taste, and salt.

Recipe: Eating Well: Basic Sauteed Kale