How To Cook Any Type of Leafy Greens

 

 

Guest blogger Blythe gives us a basic recipe that you can use for cooking any type of leafy greens:

It seems like kale and other greens make a pretty frequent appearance in our produce box from Space Girl Organics, plus we have about twenty collard plants out in our front yard, so we’ve made it our business to learn how to cook up a mean plate of greens. Some greens are heartier than others.  Kale is way more tender than collards so you can adjust the cooking time based on that. Tender greens only take about 10 minutes to cook, whereas tougher ones will need to cook 15 minutes or so.

 

 

Sauteed Greens

2-4 servings

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp butter

¼ medium yellow onion, sliced thin

1-2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp Cajun seasoning or ½ tsp ground red pepper

1 bunch greens (approx. 20-30 leaves)

¾ cup chicken broth (you could substitute vegetable broth)

2-3 slices of cooked bacon, crumbled (optional)

 

Rinse and dry your greens. Trim off the stems and, in the case of larger, tougher greens, cut them into strips.  Melt the butter in a medium sauce pan. Add in onion and garlic and saute until translucent and tender. Add in Cajun seasoning.  Add in your greens and let them cook for a minute or so, stirring often. Once all of the greens have wilted a little bit, add in the chicken broth. Cook on medium-low for approx. 10-15 minutes, or until greens are tender and cooked down. Stir often. Add bacon in, if so desired, for the last 2-3 minutes. Stir well and serve immediately.

Note: you can use bacon drippings, olive oil, or butter in the first step. I have tried all three, but prefer butter or even soy butter. The bacon at the end is also completely optional; I never omit bacon from a recipe, though, because I LOVE it. And lastly, I don’t use vinegar when cooking greens, although some people swear by it. If you like a bit of acidity, you can always add a splash of vinegar at the very end, or even dress it lightly with some vinegar-based hot sauce, which is what we do.