More and more, the idea of bitter greens appeals to me. Shopped or foraged, I have a feeling I haven’t even begun to dip my toes into this great ocean.
I have a standard technique of washing the greens and then adding them wet to a frying pan full of simmering onions, garlic, chiles and olive oil. I salt and stir and soon enough I have a bowl full of good greens. Lately, I’m experimenting with pan-toasted pine nuts or pecans and I find adding them takes things to a whole new level.
Even better is to use the cooked greens as a bed for some runner cannellini, or any other bean, really.
I love your blog Steve, and now you’re all worked up about dandelion greens? Fabulous. We have them all over our menu right now (in soup with spring onions and bacon, garlicky sauteed with flat iron and cardoon gratin).
Anyway, bitter is so the bomb (as perhaps our taste buds age a bit?), braised radicchios, endives, new olive oils, citrus peel… nothing better.
Dandelion greens–dug a big mess for a late birthday/early Mother’s Day present every spring for Mom and cleaned them. If that’s not love, I don’t know what is!
Thanks for this – I just picked up a couple of bunches of beets with the greens intact, so I will try this method out with them! I’m gonna have to go with Good Mother Stallards instead though 🙂