We had an uncharacteristic early wave of cold, wet weather so we’ve been spending a lot of time inside lately. The kids and I ventured outside to harvest some greens for dinner and I was shocked by the growth in the garden. We had radishes the size of golf balls (oops!) and our broccoli and cabbage are almost ready to harvest. It is awesome to see everything growing so well.
It’s almost embarrassing to say, but I don’t particularly love leafy greens and salad. We had moderate success with most of our fall garden last year, but our kale did exceptionally well. I gave away bags and bags of kale because I really didn’t know what to do with it. One day I decided to sauté the kale and other greens with garlic and shallots from the garden and from that day on, I was hooked. I’ll be honest and say that this is one recipe my three year old won’t eat unless it’s mixed in with some spaghetti. Greens cook down a lot which always leaves me wishing I made more so I’m ok with not sharing! I always give her a little tiny bit on her plate to taste though and I’m sure one day she will taste and love them.
Recipe- Sautéed Greens
Serves 2-3 as a side dish or mix-in
These sautéed greens make an excellent side dish or a mix-in for pasta dishes. I use whatever greens I harvest from the garden such as kale, spinach and chard and it works well with either just one type or a combination.
Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
4-6 cups of leafy greens, stems removed and rough chopped
1 half of a lemon
1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese
Instructions
1. Heat olive oil in a medium sauté pan over medium-low heat.
2. Add minced garlic and sauté for 1-2 minutes until heated and fragrant, stirring contstantly being careful not to burn.
3. Add leafy greens and toss with garlic until wilted and tender. Note: Cooking time will depend on type of greens used. Spinach cooks the fastest and will wilt within 2-3 minutes, depending on how full your pan is. Greens with tough leaves like dino kale will need closer to eight minutes to become tender.
4. Remove from heat and squeeze lemon juice over mixture and top with Parmesan cheese.
One of my favorite Kale recipes, and I didn’t like Kale at all before this recipe: https://iquitsugar.com/recipe/kale-me-anytime-salad/