Friday, May 30, 2008

Does this make me an official Southerner?

We belong to a CSA, and in the basket of veggies this week was a bunch of....

Mustard Greens.

Huh.

What's a little ol' girl who was raised on Lawn G-eyeland supposed to do with THOSE? O_O

When we lived in Florida, I worked with a veterinarian who considered mustard greens to be the ultimate comfort food. He was a Southern boy. Whenever he was down, his wife made him mustard greens and sent them over to the clinic. Me, however? Gimme some bagels and lox. Maybe a nice knish, but mustard greens? Culturally and epicurally, I cannot wrap my little head around them.

Stumped, I tried Google. Found a few different recipes, but most used lots and lots of bacon, which I didn't have in the house.

Then I asked the Borg, also known as my fellow scrappers on the consultant board I read. I figured there had to be some Southern gals there who would be willing to share their recipes. Nope. Besides some assurances that mustard greens are NASTY, nada.

Twenty-five minutes until dinner and I was stuck looking at this weird batch of leaves. ARRGH!

Well, necessity is the mother of invention, right? I invented a recipe. And guess what? The kids didn't puke or gag, Dan actually said the recipe was a "keeper" and I ate two servings. Wow!

Does this make me an official "Southerner"?

Here's the recipe, in case you ever want to brave a new culinary experience....

Wash bunch of young mustard greens.
Tear leafy parts off the stems, and rip into smaller pieces. Set aside.
Chop stems into 1" pieces.In pot or dutch oven, melt 1 to 2 tbsps butter, and add same amount of olive oil.
Saute 1/4 white onion, coarsely chopped, and chopped stems.
Add good dash of salt (I'm usually very hesitant with salt, but this time I was generous with it.)
Stir occasionally -- you may need to add more butter or olive oil to keep onions from sticking to bottom of pot.
Once the onions have become translucent, add about 2 tbsps white wine, then add leafy parts. Cover pot.
Peek occasionally to stir.
Take off heat once leafy parts have wilted, and everything is coated.
Serve!

Y'all come back now, ya hear?

.

1 comment:

  1. Eating greens does not make you Southern; it makes you crazy! YUCK! It's like eating broccoli, which is NOT GOOD FOR U!

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