Sautéed Mixed Greens Recipe

Bags of organic arugula at the store always tempt me. "Buy me!" they say, "Eat salad for a week, it'll be great!" Of course after three or four days the bag is half full and the contents start to look rather wilted and sad. Then comes regret. Why did I buy that bag in the first place? Recently I found the solution to the problem of wilting greens, a problem that I'm guessing may also be yours.


It turns out arugula is quite wonderful when lightly sauteed in olive oil. It's somewhat bitter and earthy but in a good way. It's even better if you mix it with some other greens. I use a bit of frozen spinach which is mild but silky and some fresh escarole which has a lovely spring flavor and juiciness when it's cooked. The mixture of flavors and textures creates a compelling dish that isn't just a terrific side dish, but begs to be layered in a grilled cheese sandwich. With or without ham or bacon, this is good stuff!

I buy arugula a lot. But you could just as easily use fresh but beginning-to-wilt spinach, swiss chard, kale, mustard greens, turnip tops or beet greens. Experiment! The amounts of greens are up to you and what you have on hand. I almost always have some individually quick frozen (IQF) spinach in the freezer but don't use it if you don't have it, this is all about cooking economically and making do with what you have. No garlic on hand? No problem! Want to use red chile flakes in addition to onion and garlic? Go for it! You have nothing to lose but some greens that are probably not ready for a starring role in a salad, Mr. De Mille. The basic technique is just to place the ingredients in the pan in order from most sturdy to most fragile. The sturdy stuff will take a little longer to cook than the fragile stuff, but we're talking only a few minutes.

Sautéed Mixed Greens
Serves about 4 as a side dish

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic minced
1 cup frozen spinach
8-10 leaves of escarole
1/2 a bag of arugula, about 4 handfuls

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the olive oil and when hot, add the onion. Cook for three minutes, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon, add the garlic and cook for just 30 seconds then add the spinach and the escarole. Cover and turn the heat down to low. Let it cook for a minute or two, just until the spinach barely defrosts. Remove the lid and stir, then add the arugula and stir. The arugula will wilt very quickly, in just a couple of minutes. Season with salt and you're done!

Enjoy!

Penne with Rapini & Italian Sausage: Recipe

I know there are other things to do with rapini but I am stuck in a happy rut. I always eat it exactly the same way. Rapini also called broccoli rabe looks like a leafy miniature broccoli and has a slight bitterness to it that marries well with the richness of Italian sausage. Toss that combination with a little onion, garlic, chili flakes and pasta and you're in business.

Broccoli rabe or rapini was something I ate in Italy, there it was blanched and then sauted in olive oil with garlic. Only in Italy it was called broccoli rape pronounced "rah-pay". But I imagine the "rape" name has not helped it much in the popularity department in the English speaking world. If you look it up in the dictionary it turns out to have even more names--rapa, raab, rappone (for big bunches I guess) Italian turnip, taitcat and turnip broccoli. In Italian rapa means turnip and broccoli means broccoli. As for the identity crisis--am I a turnip or am I broccoli? It is a relative of the turnip and yet looks more like broccoli. As far as the names goes, I think I'll stick with rapini.

In addition to being delicious, rapini is a very healthy vegetable with a high level of vitamin K in addition to vitamins A and C, calcium, folate and potassium. It is super easy to prepare and cook. You just boil it for a minute or two and voila! No stems to peel, no florets to break apart. Just don't overcook it, the texture is part of what makes it so good. Even people who don't like broccoli often like it which makes it pretty special indeed.

Penne with Rapini & Italian Sausage
serves 2 - 3 (double the recipe if you are serving more folks)

8 ounces penne (I use the "O" organic whole wheat penne from Safeway)
8 ounces, rapini or about one small bunch
8 ounces Italian sausages, about 2 links
1/2 onion, diced
1 clove garlic, chopped
pinch of red chili flakes (optional)
1/4 cup grated parmesan or peccorino cheese

In a large pot, boil water with a large pinch of salt for the pasta and to blanch the rapini.

Heat a large skillet over medium heath and into it, crumble the Italian sausage and add the onion. Cook over medium heat and after 5 minutes add the garlic. Cook until onion is translucent and sausage is cooked through. If sausage sticks to the pan, add a splash of water and scrape it upwith a wooden spoon.

Cook the rapini in the boiling water for just a minute then take out with tongs or a strainer. Bring the water up to a boil again and add the penne. Chop the rapini roughly and add it to the sausage mixture along with the chili flakes.

Combine the cooked penne and sausage mixture and add half the parmesan cheese, tossing to combine. Taste for seasonings and serve with the rest of the cheese.

Enjoy!

FOOD