Greens!

Eat dark, leafy greens. You have definitely heard that before. Seems like a good idea too, but you don't know where to begin, save for the weekly spinach salad. The Greeks are great at greens, they serve them with every meal, boiled in nothing more a little salted water and flavored with olive oil and lemon juice. I have been experimenting with various recipes and trying all kinds of ways to get more greens into our diet. In the US, I've found that mustard greens, kale, collard and swiss chard are the most abundant and economical. Arugula, chickory, watercress and others are fun to try if you want, but they are more expensive. I am also very lucky to live close to a giant Asian grocery store filled with gorgeous produce, including all kinds of greens never seen in typical American grocery stores.

Basic Boiled Greens - serves 4
1 1/2 pounds leafy greens (most often, I do a mix of kale and mustard greens with this)
sea salt
fresh pepper
olive oil
fresh lemon juice

Trim greens, removing stems from the middle and chop leaves. Bring about 1 inch of water in a pot to a boil, add salt and greens. Boil uncovered for about 5-15 minutes until dark green and softened (kale will take 15 minutes, spinach will take 5 - time depends on the delicacy of the green). When done, squeeze water with tongs and drain in a colander. Toss with olive oil and lemon juice to taste.

Chinese style greens - replace salt with soy sauce and olive oil with sesame oil, no lemon juice but if you want you can toss a 1-inch piece of peeled ginger in with the boiling water and greens. Remove before serving.

Greens with Tomatoes and Garlic
2 cloves garlic, minced or pushed through a press
1 can diced tomatoes
1 pound greens
olive oil
lemon juice
salt and pepper

Heat 1T olive oil in a pot, add garlic and saute about 30 seconds, just to release the flavor, add tomatoes with their juice and 1 inch water or chicken broth. Bring to a boil, add salt and greens and cook 5-15 minutes. Season with lemon juice, pepper and olive oil. Crushed red (hot) peppers are also a good addition to this style.

Green Beans with Mustard Greens
I discovered this when I needed to use up some mustard greens and had a fresh batch of green beans to cook up. The good folks at Cook's Illustrated came up with a way to make excellent green beans in one pan without parboiling them first. This not only means less dishes to wash, but the beans also retain their full nutritional value as nothing is drained. I'm going to try this recipe with broccoli and cauliflower too, we'll see if it works!

1 pound green beans, trimmed
1 cup chopped mustard greens
2 T butter
1 clove garlic, minced
1t dried thyme
salt and pepper
lemon juice

Heat 1 T butter in pan, add beans, salt and pepper and toss to coat and saute until browned, stirring a few times, about 10 minutes. Add garlic and saute about 30 seconds. Add 1/4 cup water to pan, bring to a boil, add mustard greens, reduce heat, cover and simmer about 5 minutes until mustard greens are bright green and soft and beans are cooked through. Add remaining T butter, thyme and lemon juice and stir until butter is melted completely. Serve immediately.