Garlicky Greens

I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC) is cooking with a new selected chef, Heidi Swanson starting this week, for the next six months. Heidi Swanson is a cookbook author, who focuses on whole, natural food using fresh produce that are seasonal and minimally processed. To know more about Heidi Swanson, you may visit her lovely website at 101 cookbooks and also to view her delicious vegetarian recipes. Come join us! More details here.

Welcome Heidi Swanson!

This week, we are free to cook any of Heidi Swanson's recipes, to welcome her to our kitchen. I have some homegrown kale that is right for harvest, and found just the right recipe from Heidi's blog, Garlicky Greens. 

Some of the harvests from my container garden. I'm sure Heidi would approve of these fresh kale from my garden pot! :)

Fresh from the garden, into the cooking wok half an hour later. The leaves are shred to bite-sized pieces.

This is a quick stir-fry dish. Best prepare just before serving. Heat some olive oil in a skillet (I've used a wok), add the salt and kale leaves, stir for 2 to 3 minutes, then add in lots of chopped garlic. Stir for 30 seconds or so, remove from heat, and stir in a big pinch of crushed red pepper flakes. There's an optional ingredient, Parmesan, which is to be stirred in at this point. But I have omitted the Parmesan, preferring to eat the Kale with its fresh flavours.

Simply and garlicky delicious! 

I had the Garlicky Greens with some leftover couscous, top with a fried egg, for a light and satisfying lunch. I'm really looking forward to cook with Heidi Swanson for the next six months!

Garlicky Greens
(adapted from 101 cookbooks, Heidi Swanson)
1 large bunch of kale, chard
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
fine grain sea salt
5 cloves of garlic, crushed and chopped
1/4 cup parmesan cheese (optional)
crushed red pepper flakes

To de-stem each leaf of chard/kale, grab the main stalk in one hand and strip the leaf from the stem all the way up with the other. I then tear the big leaves into bite-sized pieces, but you can use a knife for this task if you prefer. Wash the greens in a big bowl (or sink) full of clean water, rinsing and swishing to rinse away any stubborn grit and dirt. Drain, rinse again, and set aside.

Hold off cooking the greens until just before eating. Then, in a large skillet heat the olive oil. Add a couple of big pinches of salt and the greens. They should hiss and spit a bit when they hit the pan. Stir continuously until their colour gets bright green, and they just barely start to collapse - two, three, maybe four minutes, depending on how hot your pan is and how much structure your greens have. Then, just thirty seconds before you anticipate pulling the skillet off the heat, stir in the garlic. Saute a bit, remove the pan from the heat, stir in the Parmesan, and add a big pinch of crushed red pepper flakes. Taste, add a bit of salt if needed, and serve immediately if not sooner.

I'm linking this post with I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC), theme for this week,

Hello Heidi!