Slow-Braised Winter Greens

Greens seem to be the latest "sexy" food in my cooking magazines. They have been around forever, but, have recently been picking up steam(no pun intended). Actually, steaming is the best way to prepare them, but, I love most recipes that include the word braised, so, I decided to give this one a try. The recipe calls for collard greens, but, I used Kale. According to the whole foods website, Kale is one of the healthiest foods around. It a "super food" in terms of cancer-fighting properties, anti-inflammatory benefits and it can also assist in detoxification(which seems to be huge goal this year for so many of you). And it tastes pretty damn good. I would say it has an earthy flavor.... a bit peppery. O.K.... That's probably more than anyone wants to know about Kale, so on with the recipe.



Start by cooking 3 slices of applewood-smoked bacon slices(not pictured) in a dutch oven until crisp. Remove bacon and crumble. Then saute 1/2 c chopped onion in bacon drippings for 2 minutes. Add 1/2 t of crushed red pepper flakes, 1/4 t salt, and 16 oz of packaged, prewashed greens of your choice. Cook until slightly wilted.

Next, add 1/4 cup of dry white wine, 1/2 c water, 1c. of low-sodium chicken broth, 2 T cider vinegar.

Toss in crispy crumbled bacon.



Cover and simmer on low-heat for 1 hour or until greens are tender.



I served the greens with some oven baked french fries. I simply cut the potatoes into 1/2 inch slices and brushed with olive oil. Sprinkled on some sea salt and favorite spices. Then bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.

These make great side dishes for your favorite grilled meat or fish. But for me, the pork chop was the side dish tonight.