Easy Sauteed Greens That Go With Everything

Greens were a mystery to me until I got a job selling vegetables at the Chino Farms stand in San Diego County. Often after a weekend shift, the Chinos would invite me to their home kitchen behind the stand for lunch. One winter day, Kay Chino, sadly now gone, had made, among a host of other vegetable preparations and two rice cookers full of rice (one white, one brown), a giant pot of stewed greens. Until then, I’d never bought a bunch of any kind of greens — kale, chard, collard or mustard greens — because I would not have had the first idea what to do with them. Well, Kay showed me what to do. She started with a base of onions, garlic and lots of olive oil. Into that, she added the greens a handful at a time, folding them in to make room for more. Kay cooked the greens for about an hour (I cook mine for less time) and added spinach right at the end. That’s what I do too. Kay added homemade chicken broth to “buy” time as she cooked them. I sometimes make mine with chicken broth (only if I have homemade on hand) and sometimes with plain old water.

There are so many ways to enjoy the greens. Obviously, they make a delicious side dish on their own. You can finely chop them and toss them with pasta — and crumbled Italian sausage, if that’s your thing. (It’s mine.) Chop the cooked greens and scramble them with eggs, use them to fill an omelet, or stir them into a bowl of lentils or another bean soup. Make them the main event in a Meatless Monday taco (along with queso fresco) or spread them across a tortilla and top with melty cheese to make a quesadilla. Serve a mound of the greens with a fried egg on top, in a grain bowl or as a bed for baked or pan-seared fish. Shall I go on?

Feel free to mix up the greens or use just one kind.