Yankee Greens

My new diet requires me to eat more salad stuff. With just me to feed, I’m losing a lot of salad greens to decay before they are consumed. Keep them too long and you risk garbage gut so I needed to find an alternative. On impulse, I bought a pound of Trader Joe’s mixed greens (collards, mustard, turnip, and all that other good Southern stuff). On the back of the bag was a receipt for Mediterranean Greens so I gave it a try. It is easy, keeps in the fridge once cooked up, and proved to be quite tasty. The secret is olives, garlic, and tomatoes.

So, why is the title of this article “Yankee Greens?” My southern aunts cook greens with salt pork and that’s about it. And they boil them beyond recognition to the color of an old sea bag.  So this is a bit of a tease — yes, Nancy, I’m teasing you!

It may be possible to cook the greens for less than 30 minutes. When they first wilt down, they are a bright green and look terrific. Trick is that you have to cook them enough to permit them to be digested. Thirty minutes is clearly enough. Is 15 minutes too little?

Yield: 4 Servings

Ingredients:

1. 1 lb mixed greens or any winter greens
2. 1 c sliced olives, green, black, or kalamata
3. 4 cloves garlic
4. 1/4 c sun dried tomato strips in olive oil
5. 1 15 oz can diced tomatoes, plum is best
6. olive oil as needed to sauté everything

Pans:

7 qt Dutch oven or other pan that will hold 1 lb of greens

Process:

1. Press the garlic, slice up the olives, and dried tomatoes.
2. Wash and dry greens as needed
3. Sauté the garlic, olives and dried tomatoes over low heat for about 5 minutes. Use sufficient oil to cover the bottom of the pan.
4. Add the diced tomatoes and sauté until hot (2 minutes more)
5. Stir in the greens and let them wilt down
6. Cover and cook on low heat for about 30 minutes