Thursday, June 7, 2007

Greens with Parmesan Cheese...

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Our garden fresh dinner tonight turned out to be scrumptious! We had corn on the cob (bought on sale at the local grocery), salad made with leaf lettuce and carrot from the grocery and tomatoes, cucumber, green pepper and onion from the garden, boiled new Yukon Gold potatoes from the garden with butter, garlic, pepper and parsley, and kale and beet leaves from the garden. Rather than eat the salad I just had some cucumber and green pepper and a leftover beet from the garden. It was a frugal and healthy meat-free dinner and we all enjoyed it.

For those of you who haven't grown kale because you weren't sure what to do with it or for those who have seen it at the market but didn't buy it because you weren't sure what to do with it, we eat it as a salad green and cooked. We like it both ways but my favorite is cooked. I found a hand full of beet leaves in the fridge tonight and cooked those with the kale-don't be afraid to mix greens!

To cook kale or beet greens or swiss chard, I just wash and trim the leaves, leaving the stems but cutting the excess off from the bottom of the leaves. I put it into a skillet with a little bit of water, some onion, garlic or garlic powder, salt, pepper, whatever seasoning I'm in the mood for, and cook it lightly until it's not crunchy but not totally limp either, about 10 minutes.

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Then I drain the liquid and add some Parmesan cheese, fresh if I have it, dried if I don't. I've also used other cheeses with it and they're all good!

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I let it sit just a few minutes until the cheese is good and melted and then serve. It's a very tasty dish and beet leaves, chard, and other greens are excellent cooked this way, too.

If you haven't tried greens cooked this way, give it a shot! Even those who don't like greens might enjoy this dish.

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