The Good Part of the Beet: Sauteed Greens

The finished dish of sauteed chard.

For this recipe you can use any greens -- beet greens, swiss/rainbow chard, mustard greens, collard greens, spinach, and probably even kale (cook a little longer though).  I think I've only used beet greens and chard.  I don't like beets because I think they taste like soil, so Husband Jeff eats that end of the plant, but the beet greens are good so this is my way to ensure we don't waste anything.  Plus it's so tasty!

I don't know where I found this recipe, I tried to search online to see if I could find the original, but I had no luck.  I scribbled my copy on the cardboard piece from the back of a pad of paper a couple years ago and I pull it out every summer to cook up some greens.

This recipe is really flexible, aside from switching out the greens, you can make it without pasta to have a veggie-only side dish/gluten-free and without the feta to be dairy-free/vegan.

Ingredients

• 2 oz pasta (optional)
• 2 Tablespoons raisins 
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1/4 cup diced onion
• 2 teaspoons garlic, minced
• 1 bunch greens, rinsed and chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper (optional, it's not actually noticeably spicy)
• juice of 1/2 a lemon (or 1.5 Tablespoons from a bottle)
• 1/3 cup almonds, chopped
• 1/4 cup crumbled feta (optional)

Directions

Start your pasta and cook for the normal amount of time.

Soak the raisins in a little cup of hot water for about 10 minutes or until whenever you need them for the recipe.  I put mine in a custard cup, add enough water to at least cover them, and put them in the microwave for 30 seconds.  They'll plump up to be nice and juicy by the time you get to throw them in the dish.

Put the oil in a deep pan/skillet over medium heat and wait until the oil is hot, then add the onions and cook for 5 minutes.  Add the garlic and saute for 1 more minute. 

Ribbons of chopped chard.

Add the chopped greens and 1/4 cup water, cover and let cook for 3 minutes or until the greens are softened.  A hearty kale would likely take longer, maybe more like 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, drain the water off the softened raisins. 

Once the greens are softened, add the crushed red pepper, lemon juice, almonds, pasta, drained raisins, and feta and stir it all together. 

Verdict

Tangy feta, sweet raisins, bitter greens, crunchy nuts, sour lemon juice, and savory onions -- what an awesome balance!

I always forget how much I love the little bit of sweetness that the raisins add to this dish.  I need to add more next time. 

It looked like a larger-than-normal bunch of chard so I thought about only cooking up part of it, but I'm glad I threw it all in because we ate all of it except for a tiny bit of leftovers.  Greens cook down a lot.  I had plans that those leftovers would become part of my morning snack at work, but I forgot them.  Darn.  The tastiness will await me until later.  I think this might even be good cold, but I don't remember. 

I didn't even offer any to Sonny D since that little guy turns his nose up on all things greens except for green grapes, avocado, my smoothies with a handful of spinach, and pesto. 

 I can't wait to make this more times this summer.