Cooking Fresh Greens
Fresh hearty greens are an excellent (and delicious!) source of vitamins. Maybe you’ve considered preparing them at home but don’t quite know how best to do that. Here is a SUPER SIMPLE preparation for greens, which can be used for many kinds such as swiss chard, collards, kale, beet greens, mustard greens, and more!
- Rinse your greens and shake off excess water (no need to dry…they will be steamed soon)
- Chop roughly into pieces or strips (they really cook down, so what seems like a big piece will certainly be bite-sized after cooking.) Include the stems in this, they add a nice contrast of texture. (The very bottom of kale & collard stems might be a bit firm, even after cooking. You might consider cutting off & discarding the bottom couple inches.)
- Toss in a large pot with a steamer basket and about an inch of water and cover tightly.
- Bring the water to a boil and steam until the greens are a desired texture. (Collards & kale will take longer than swiss chard, mustard greens and beet greens.) Test doneness at about 4-5 minutes and then more frequently thereafter. DO NOT OVERCOOK! Nothing is less appealing than mushy, bodiless greens (this is how greens got a bad rap in the first place!) What you want to achieve is a brighter green color than the original color, and a texture that is soft enough to chew pleasantly but does NOT disintegrate in your mouth.
- When done, remove IMMEDIATELY from the steamer basket and toss with olive oil, butter, or spread and salt & pepper to taste. (Truffle oil OR sesame oil are both SUPER yummy on greens!)
Alternative:
- Chop about 2 cloves of garlic and toss in a medium heat pan with about 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Stir until the garlic begins to become aromatic (about 30 seconds.) (If the heat is too high, you will burn the garlic before the greens are cooked.)
- Toss the chopped greens into the pan with the garlic & olive oil. Stir & turn the greens frequently until done. (Again, what you want to achieve is a brighter green color than the original color, and a texture that is soft enough to chew pleasantly but does NOT disintegrate in your mouth.)