One Good Meal: The Healthy Fish Dish Misty Copeland Cooks for Dinner

In “One Good Meal,” we ask cooking-inclined creative people to share the story behind a favorite dish they actually make and eat at home on a regular basis — and not just when they’re trying to impress.

To put it mildly, the life of a ballerina does not leave much time for a grand sit-down meal. “Most of the time I’m in the studio from 10:15 a.m. to 7 p.m.,” says Misty Copeland, who in 2015 became the American Ballet Theater’s first black principal dancer. “And the longest break I get is five minutes on the hour. So it’s really difficult to manage eating.” Throughout rehearsal, she’s constantly snacking on grapes, bananas, cheese, nuts, dried mangos and white chocolate — “calories that will sustain me,” Copeland says.

And then, finally, there’s dinner. When Copeland gets home from work (or when she has a rare night off), she likes to make virtuous variations on the homey dishes she grew up with in the stick-to-your-ribs barbecue capital that is Kansas City, Mo. In her kitchen, kale replaces collard greens. Flounder and vegetable broth substitute for ham hocks and chicken stock. A pescatarian, she appreciates flounder for its meaty texture and flavor-to-effort ratio: It tastes complex but is easy to make. Cooking, she says, “is a way for me to be creative with a lot less physical exhaustion than dancing all day.”

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Such meals will sustain Copeland, 36, during ABT’s forthcoming spring season, which opens May 13 at the Metropolitan Opera House. This year, in addition to playing the lead in “Swan Lake,” she takes on the title character — “a high-class whore,” as Copeland describes her — in the choreographer Kenneth MacMillan’s “Manon,” which “sounds crazy and dark and I don’t know if kids should come to this one,” Copeland adds. “But in terms of acting and dancing, it’s exciting to play a real person.” And real people, of course, enjoy a nice, home-cooked meal.

Misty Copeland’s Flounder With Sautéed Kale

For the kale

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

• 1 diced onion

• 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper (or to taste)

• 4 diced garlic cloves

• 2 bunches curly kale

• 4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth

• A splash white wine vinegar

• Salt and pepper to taste

• Hot sauce to taste

For the fish

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

• 2 flounder fillets

• Salt and pepper to taste

1. To make the kale, set a large pot over high heat. Drizzle olive oil into the pot, then add the onion and cook until it turns translucent, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add the red pepper flakes and garlic. Cook until the garlic turns fragrant, about 1 minute. Strip the kale leaves off the spine with your hands so that the leaves are in equal-size pieces, and add the kale to the pot. Pour the vegetable broth over the kale and bring to a boil. Add the white wine vinegar along with the salt and pepper. Reduce the heat to a simmer and let cook for 40 minutes. Using tongs or a slotted spoon, place the sautéed kale on a plate and add hot sauce to taste.

2. About 15 minutes before the kale is finished cooking, prepare the flounder. Heat the oil in a medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Season the fish with salt and pepper and place it on the skillet, skin side up. Cook until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Flip the fish and continue cooking, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the fish from the skillet and serve immediately over the sautéed kale.