spring greens

You know it's spring time when the overwintering kale and collards start bolting--and you're dog tired of winter starches.

Here's one of my favorite recipes for spring time--spring greens. Greens go with everything and this is a sure fire way to use up those greens before the only thing they're good for is seed stock. After experimenting with making greens for years, I've decided that I like this simple vegetarian recipe far better than anything I grew up eating in the South. The flavor of the greens gets the spotlight, which seems appropriate in the early days of spring when you get that hankering for green stuff.

What you need: A stove, a large pot, cast iron skillet, or wok (and a lid of matching size); a large quantity of greens--any kind that's available will work (kale, collards, mustard, dandelion, chard, spinach, bak choi, pea greens, etc); soy sauce, some frying oil (sesame is really good for this), a few cloves of garlic diced (or if you grow your own garlic, just go outside and cut the stems off a few of the plants--this works even better than garlic cloves), a small chunk of ginger root diced, a little bit of cayenne if you like things hot, and a pinch of sugar if you are using greens that are bitter or very strong flavored).

Spring Greens

1. Using a pot or skillet, sautee the ginger and garlic for a couple of minutes, and if you are using cayenne, add it now.

2. Then add about a tablespoon (or a bit more) of the soy sauce (and let is sizzle down a bit).

3. Then add about a cup of water, and clap a lid on the pan, so that it will build up some steam.

4. In the meantime, make sure you've got your greens torn or chopped and ready to go in the pot.

5. Once things are good and steamy, drop everything in, give it a quick stir, and clamp down the lid.

6. Check after a couple of minutes, stir again, so that things are well-distributed, and clap the lid back on there. It's really important not to overcook the greens, so you have to watch them closely.

7. Once everything's bright green and just wilty, but not really cooked, turn the heat off, and let it sit at residual heat. (If you're using an electric stove, pull the pot off the burner because that's a bit too much heat.) Greens are ready to serve at this point.

8. I like to eat them as is, or piled on a plate with whatever else I'm eating, but some folks like them with just a splash of vinegar, so if that's you, add some after they're cooked. (Sometimes I use Bragg's apple cider vinegar, herbed/hot pepper vinegar, or something different that's really good is Japanese plum vinegar.) You could also sprinkle sesame seeds or flax seeds on top.

Enjoy!