Swamped with garden greens? A to-die-for recipe! Or two or three 😉
This time of year, gardens explode, and suddenly an abundance of food is available. You don’t want to waste food, but it becomes a bit of an issue trying to keep up.
There are so many different kinds of greens, and there are a lot of things many people don’t even know are edible, and they are going to waste. Did you know we waste up to 80% of edible food in our gardens? And here we are scrambling to afford groceries, feed the less fortunate and ourselves, plus dealing with supply chain issues.
So if you are over-run with spinach, or swiss chard, beet greens, collards, the extra cabbage or broccoli leaves you trim off your plants, or any other types of leafy bounty, here are a couple of ways that I love to use them. They are delicious, and usually you can get the pickier members of the family to enjoy them like this as well. Because one ingredient is bacon. There is very little that is not improved with bacon 😉
Recipe #1. Olive Oil and Garlic
- Three to four good handfuls of greens (they cook down in size), washed and drained
- 1-2 cloves garlic finely chopped – if you aren’t going anywhere and love garlic, you can increase this amount as you desire
- Heat your skillet on medium-low heat, with olive oil.
- Add in the garlic and cook a couple of minutes to soften.
- Add in the greens, and braize/wilt to desired doneness ( I really hate over done mushy greens)
- Sea salt and fresh pepper to taste.
If you like, a bit of vinegar or fresh lemon for seasoning is a great addition with butter and salt and pepper.
Recipe #2. Crispy Bacon and Garlic
- The same ingredients as above, with the addition of bacon.
- Fry some bacon till crispy in your frying pan, and remove to drain.
- Fry up the garlic in the bacon drippings until soft
- Add in the greens and wilt to desired doneness.
- Add in salt and pepper as needed.
- Crumble the bacon back in and enjoy.
Other Variations
Depending on what you have on hand, you may want to add in or mix other ingredients.
- Mushrooms
- Crispy fried tofu
- Onions- this can be white onions, chives, or other types of green onions
- Herbs – rosemary, thyme, basil, cilantro, etc
- Of course, you can turn it into a full-on stir fry if you like, with fridge leftovers, and other vegetables,
But I find that sometimes, just simple, fresh, and tasty makes for an amazingly simple meal.
I should add that this is most often my breakfast for as long as the season lasts, often with a couple of poached, farm-fresh eggs. I feel so much better when eating fresh and clean. Don’t worry, with a teenager in the house, there is plenty of pizza and other stuff around, but I try to keep it at a minimum rather than trying to eliminate altogether.
What are your favorite greens? Leave me a comment below and share your favorite recipes for using fresh greens!
