A recipe from The Bitten Word
While we were furiously cooking in the lead up to our Fakesgiving, we found ourselves with a whole mess of turnip greens. We had gotten the turnips for the Turnips with Pickled Mustard Seeds and Bacon from our CSA, and they had the greens attached. We had removed the greens from the turnips and stored them seperately. Rather than wait and use the greens some other time, we decided to improvise a simple dish that would use them, and opted for making Winter Greens with Preserved Lemon.
This was a completely selfish decision, as we had made Preserved Lemons following this year's Cover to Cover Challenge. The lemons have been giving us the stank eye every since they've been properly brined, as if to say, "WHY AREN'T YOU USING US??? WE ARE DELICIOUS!!" (Oddly, they say this in a British accent.)
For our Fakesgiving take on this dish, we used both the turnip greens as well as the dinosaur kale that was growing in our garden. We did a quick sauté of the greens in a large pot, then simply tossed the greens with chopped preserved lemon.
We opted to use one entire preserved lemon for a pound of greens. It's Thanksgiving we're talking about, and we wanted big flavor. The salty, sweetly sour preserved lemons are perfect paired with bitter winter greens.
While we are advocates for decadence at Thanksgiving, we also enjoy having a few dishes that are on the lighter side. This one fit the bill for us -- hopefully it will for you, too.
Winter Greens with Preserved Lemon
A recipe from The Bitten Word
Serves 6
NOTE:
Preserved lemons are available at many grocery stores, or can be ordered online. You can also make them, though they need two weeks to fully cure.
INGREDIENTS
1 pound winter greens, such as turnip greens, mustard greens or kale, thorough clean and rough stem ends discarded
1 small onion, diced
1 preserved lemon, seeds removed, diced (use the entire lemon)
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
METHOD
Heat the olive oil in a wide, deep skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, and sauté until soft and translucent, 8 to 10 minutes. Increase heat to medium-high and add the greens. Using tongs, turn the greens every few minutes, bringing the wilted greens on bottom to the top. Continue cooking until greens are nicely wilted, 10 to 12 minutes. Add the preserved lemon, season with salt and pepper to your tastes, toss and serve.
