<p>collard greens boiled in a little water with vinegar and a little sugar. Add some red pepper flakes if you like to heat it up a little.</p>
<p>This is a recipe I’ve been making to use my leftover spaghetti sauce. I have unlimited collards & kales from my garden. I buy my kidney beans and garbanzo beans at a wholesale place for dirt cheap, something like $1.69c/lb. Soaking the beans ahead seem to reduce gas.</p>
<p>1/2 cup of red kidney beans(soaked ahead)
1/2 cup of garbanzo beans(soaked ahead)
1 can of tomato sauce or leftover spaghetti sauce
2 cups of collard greens, kales, swiss chards
Saute 2/3 green onions in olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste</p>
<p>I don’t remember where the recipe is from (foodnetwork.com? epicurious.com? maybe somewhere else), but I recently had a dish that was sauteed greens (I think it was spinach?) and chickpeas. Yum!</p>
<p>My D, a vegan, loves a dish similar to my-3-sons’ above: saute collards, Swiss chard, or kale with olive oil, lots of garlic (skip the butter, EVOO is just as tasty and healthier), and 1-in cubes of tofu. Serve over brown rice or whole wheat pasta. Top with a few dashes of Tamari or </p>
<p>For the carnivores: DW makes a terrific kale-mushroom-beef soup. In EVOO, brown about 1 lb. thinly sliced beef cut into 1-in. squares. Add 6 cups beef broth, 1 tsp thyme, simmer about 1 hour. Add 8 oz. sliced mushrooms and 1 lb. chopped kale, simmer until kale is tender. Salt & pepper to taste. Variants: saute onions with beef, and/or add sliced carrots and/or barley when broth is added, simmering until carrots are tender and barley is fully cooked before adding mushrooms and kale.</p>
<p>We make a vegetarian, healthier version of traditional Southern collard greens – instead of ham hocks, thinly slice an onion and brown in lots of olive oil (careful not to burn). When the onions are nice and brown, almost carmelized, throw in the chopped collards (stems too!), a cup of water, some salt and sugar (about 2 parts sugar to 1 part salt), and some red pepper flakes if you like, and boil til water is cooked away and collards are tender. You can add some balsamic vinegar towards the end. It’s very tasty. Don’t be shy with the salt and sugar though.</p>
<p>I also make a pasta dish similar to bclintonk’s D, except instead of tofu, I add a can of cannelini beans. Lots of garlic is key here.</p>
<p>Hmom, this doesn’t have greens but it’s chock full of broccoli. I found the recipe on the web but it’s from the Barefoot Contessa. My family (kids included) loves this dish. If you don’t have a microplane grater it’s an excellent reason to buy one (for the lemon zest).</p>
<p>Broccoli & Bowties</p>
<p>8 cups broccoli florets
½ lb farfalle pasta (bowtie)
2 T unsalted butter (I use Smart Balance margarine)
2 T extra virgin olive oil
1 t minced garlic (more!)
Zest of 1 lemon
1 ½ t kosher salt
½ t fresh ground pepper
1 T fresh lemon juice
1/3 c pine nuts
Freshly grated parmesan cheese, optional</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add broccoli and cook for just 3 minutes. You need the water to cook the pasta, so do not drain. Instead, remove broccoli with a large slotted spoon and place into a large serving bowl.</p></li>
<li><p>Making sure the water is still boiling, add pasta. Cook according to pkg directions (about 10-12 minutes), then drain well and add cooked pasta to the broccoli.</p></li>
<li><p>While pasta is cooking, toast the pine nuts. Place a small skillet over medium-low heat and add nuts to skillet. Stir often. It will take about 5 minutes for them to toast. Watch carefully so they do not burn. Set aside.</p></li>
<li><p>Now heat the margarine and olive oil in the same small skillet over medium-low heat. Add both minced garlic and lemon zest and sauté for one minute.</p></li>
<li><p>Remove skillet from burner and add the salt, pepper and lemon juice. Stir to combine, then pour over the broccoli and pasta in the large bowl. Toss.</p></li>
<li><p>Taste pasta and broccoli mixture and add more salt or pepper if necessary.</p></li>
<li><p>Sprinkle toasted pine nuts and parmesan over dish, and serve.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Hmom–for lots of good veggie recipes, take a look at: Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. It’s my new, favorite cookbook. Lots of great recipes. My H is a huge meat/potatoes person and he’s trying to lower cholesterol/high blood pressure (all borderline), so we’ve been changing over and having lots of fish and veggie meals. This cookbook has been great.</p>
<p>Sounds like the perfect Mothers Day gift! Think I’ll drop a hint to DSs.</p>
<p>Do you ever make risotto?</p>
<p>Any of these bitter greens taste so good thrown into a risotto recipe (mushrooms risotto especially) towards the end so they just have time to wilt - about 8 to 10 minutes.</p>
<p>Somebody mentioned vegetarian recipes. Learn to use tempeh. It is usually in the refrigerated section of produce. I love using it for sloppy joes, saute and added to spaghetti sauce, sliced and marinated in some soy/water, garlic, caraway, dill and then used instead of corned beef for a reuben. My non vegetarian friends love 'em. The reubens are an infrequent treat, because even with low sodium version of the other ingredients, the sodium content is too high for me.</p>
<p>i make a vegetarian stirfry just about every night (easy, quick, and cheap)- garlic, olive oil, ginger, teriyaki sauce, leafy greens, whatever frozen veggies i have on hand, and some sort of protein (tofu, tempeh, etc), over some whole wheat pasta.</p>
<p>Bromfield, my DH also had a slight cholesterol problem. We cut back to lean red meat once every other week, cut out processed everything, added lots of vegetarian meals and his cholesterol issue retreated within 6 weeks! I love Mark Bittman and will get the book right away.</p>
<p>Thanks for the recipes. Keep them coming! I’ve really learned that you can eat really well while intaking little fat and few calories if you’re willing to work on food preparation.</p>
<p>Ingredients:</p>
<p>1 pound kale, tough stems and center ribs discarded and leaves cut into 1-inch-wide strips (8 cups)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small red onion, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise
1 garlic clove, minced
Pinch of dried hot red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon red-wine vinegar, or to taste
1/4 teaspoon salt</p>
<p>Preparation:
Cook kale in a 6-quart pot of boiling salted water , uncovered, stirring occasionally, until just tender, about 10 minutes, then drain in a colander.</p>
<p>Heat oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then saut</p>
<p>I cook cubed potatoes, add kale, chard or collards toward the end of the cooking time. Mash, add sauted onion and garlic, salt and pepper, some low fat cheese or sour cream. Great comfort food, and if using red chard or beet greens, the potatoes turn a very pretty pink.</p>
<p>Love the risotto idea which leads to the next question. I’ve only got one recipe for risotto as a very tasty (but high fat due to addition of mascarpone cheese) accompaniment to scallops. Any good risotto recipes?</p>
<p>The classic plain risotto contains 5 cups of broth, 3 tablespoons of butter/olive oil in combination (such as 2T butter and 1 T olive oil), 1/3 cup of minced onion, 1 1/2 cups of Arborio rice, a little saffron, and another tablespoon of butter and 1/3 cup of grated Parmesan to finish. (A little cream can be used to finish instead of butter. Saffron is optional, of course.)</p>
<p>To that can be added things such as greens sauteed in olive oil and garlic, shrimp or scallops sauteed in olive oil, etc. If you wanted to go lower fat, you could add steamed items, although the flavor won’t usually be as good. I actually love risotto with blanched kale, though, because the texture is so great.</p>
<p>That would be lower in fat than mascarpone. Are you using the real risotto technique: gradually stirring in the broth over about 20 minutes? That will probably help you achieve a creamier texture without adding the mascarpone.</p>
<p>I would be concerned first paying for all the nutrients in greens, and then destroying most of them by spending even more time and $$ on cooking. I like to eat them raw if they can be eaten raw, and I do not buy the ones that cannot. However, it is different if you just use them for taste, not for nutrition purposes. I love Romaine lettuce, mint, mustard greens.</p>
<p>In summer, we eat salad practically every day. I use baby spinach in salad, together with baby tomatoes, crumbled blue cheese, walnuts, sliced raw mushrooms. I sautee spinach in olive oil and garlic; sometimes I add sliced mushrooms. I also use raw watercress in salad, or make watercress soup. If I can find some baby bok choy, I stir fry it with a little meat. I do the same with broccoli flowers.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>If you mean the beet one, not really, but here’s a rough description. :)</p>
<p>Chop enough leeks and/or onions to make about 1 1/2-2 cups. Peel and dice about 3 large carrots. Trim and dice 1 or 2 sweet red peppers. Peel, core, and roughly dice a couple of sweet apples. (In other words, not Granny Smiths, as much as I love them.) Melt about 2T butter in 2T olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pot with a tight lid over medium/low heat, and add leek/onion, carrot, apples, and red pepper. Add a few cloves of garlic, either minced or using a garlic press. Add a bay leaf (or two), and about a tablespoon of ground or perhaps slightly more whole coriander seed. Grind in some black pepper. Cover and “sweat”–ie, cook slowly without browning–until the onions are very soft and translucent. The apples may have dissolved–that’s okay. Make sure you adjust the heat so that it doesn’t actually brown but leave the lid on as much as possible to achieve the “sweating” effect.When everything is very soft, remove the lid and cook until onions and apples are golden but not brown.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, peel some beets and cut them into eighths or quarters, depending on size: probably equivalent to the amounts of each of the other items: about 2 cups. When you have reached the golden stage, add the beets and about 6 cups of chicken broth (you can add more later if you need to thin the puree, or if 6 cups doesn’t cover your wilted vegetables and beets). You can add 1/2 cup or so of white wine if you wish. Bring to a steady simmer, partially cover, and cook until the beets and carrots are completely tender. </p>
<p>Remove the bay leaf, and puree very thoroughly. (If you are using a food processor, the best way is to remove the solids to the processor bowl with a slotted spoon, start pureeing them, and add liquid as necessary.) Add heavy cream/creme fraiche/sour cream/plain yogurt as desired to finish. Also add more broth if it is too thick. Check the seasonings. If you are going to serve it hot, put the bay leaf back in and warm gently. (Never boil sour cream!) If you are going to serve it cold, chill in fridge, and don’t forget to check the seasonings and consistency when cold, since it does make a difference.</p>
<p>You can garnish with a dollop or swirl of your chosen dairy product and/or a sprinkling of minced cilantro or chives.</p>
<p>You can leave out the beets or the red peppers. The essential items are the leeks or onions, the carrots, and the apples. If you want to make it a bit more Asian, leave out the beets, add a little cardamom seed or ground cardamom ( MUCH less than the coriander: it has a much stronger flavor), and use coconut milk instead of dairy.</p>
<p>Thanks for the risotto and soup how-tos, Consolation! I shall try the risotto tonight. Yes, I am using the “real risotto technique”. Recipe (delicious by the way) is from “In the Kitchen the Costco Way” p. 77.</p>