When I decided to join a CSA, I was prepared for what food bloggers and other folks said would be an onslaught of leafy greens in the spring, (and summer, and fall). I saw it as a challenge, an exercise for my budding creative culinary skills.
This winter, I bought loads of kale and a bunch of chard at the grocery store, looked up recipes on blogs and even came out with my own tomato, kale, garbanzo and sausage soup.
I saw this onslaught as an opportunity to get all the wonderful vitamins and good-for-you things greens provide, and envisaged a sudden turn to a healthy-eating lifestyle.
And then I got my first bunches of beet and mustard greens.
Actually, I didn’t even know what they were, and failed to ask before happily and proudly skipping away with my bagful of fresh goodies.
It seems that while I was contorting to pat myself on the back, I failed to look up what “greens” actually meant and in what variety they come.
But this is not a story of a food failure.
In fact, it’s more of a food rescue.
So with the first batch, I made salad. It was … interesting. Not that bad the first time around, but not regular, tender-lettuce salad. It got better the second and third days after I beefed it up with boiled eggs, bacon and other things that I’m sure negate all the good-for-you qualities fresh greens provide.
I used to laugh at my friends from the South (land o’ collard and many other kinds of greens) who regaled me with stories of things like fried lettuce. I’d just about be on the floor, “You FRY lettuce? You have got to be kidding,” I’d said. Yeah, it was mean.
But all this was in my head as I chopped up a heaping helping from my second batch. I fried it in bacon grease then scrambled in some eggs and topped it all with crumbled bacon.
I will NEVER laugh at my Southern friends again.
It. Was. Good.
And then, on my third trip to pick up goods, a friendly farmer at Pheasant Fields FarmRed Barn Farm gave me some tips and the weekly newsletter included a great recipe of garlicky greens with Andouille and onions to my weekly newsletter. The recipe came courtesy of Shannon Harkness of , who says she acquired it from a Cook’s Country magazine.
I made the recipe from the newsletter with mustard greens and instead of cider vinegar, I used red wine vinegar (it’s what I had in the house) and keilbasa (because the grocery store was out of Andouille). I overcooked the greens a little bit, so they weren’t quite bright green, and they were a touch bitter, but not overwhelmingly so, just enough to make it interesting.
So, it seems, I’m coming to love the greens in a multitude of varieties. If any of you have additional greens recipes, please, please pass them on.
Garlicky Greens with Andouille and Onions
(From Cook’s Country magazine)
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
3 ounces Andouille sausage, halved lengthwise and cut into
half-moon shapes (substitues include kielbasa or chorizo)
1/2 red onion, sliced thin
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 pounds greens, chopped
2 Tbsp cider vinegar
Brown sausage: Heat oil in Dutch oven over medium heat until just smoking. Cook sausage until well-browned, about 5 minutes. Add onion and cook until softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in garlic until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
Add greens and vinegar, cover and cook until greens are wilted, about 3 minutes. Remove cover, increase heat to high to evaporate the liquid, about two more minutes.
