Cooking Thanksgiving dinner can be a whole lotta fun and often times a stressor of sorts; what to make (excluding the obvious), how to make it, will there be enough food, will everything come out at the same time etc…etc…etc… Over the years I’ve made it a point to simplify. Which means someone else has the responsibility of cooking the turkey and I the sides.
So last night Mike walked in from the garden with an armful of greens; a veritable bouquet of Chard, Purple Kale & Broccoli Rabe.
Gorgeous! The purple stems are purple kale.
Mike, who is a good cook himself (he cooks the turkey), proceeded to prep the greens for cooking by chopping the stems very small so that they would cook quickly.
He then continued on to the leaves with a rough chop (bigger pieces than the stems). And put all the prepped greens into a sauté pan.
Then onto the stove it went.
A Sauté of Greens is a fresh, simple and quick way to complement the Thanksgiving Day Dinner; no matter who cooks it!
Here’s the recipe.
Ingredients
1 lb of your favorite green, rough chop (stems optional - chopped very small)
1 Tbls of extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp of kosher salt
1/2 tsp of fresh ground pepper
Process
Turn your stove burner to medium high. Place a large sauté pan on that burner and add olive oil. While olive oil is heating add your greens and sprinkle salt and pepper on top. Begin turning the greens over and over until they begin wilting. Once they have cooked down, turn the stove down to low, cover and cook for 5 to 10 more minutes or until greens soften but still have a crunch (yes you must test). Once done ladle greens out into a bowl and serve immediately.
Yields 6 side servings.