A couple months ago I fell in love with Swiss chard. Just when the spinach in my garden was beginning to turn bitter, the Swiss chard in my neighbor’s garden was growing large and tender. I had never tasted Swiss chard before that moment, but I got some cooking advice from the neighbor and went home and prepared it. Since then, cooking greens whether spinach, chard or beet tops in a garlicky mixture of onions and bacon is my favorite way to prepare them. Try it–you won’t be disappointed.
Bacon and Beet Greens (printable recipe here)
4-6 cups beet greens and stems, sliced into bite size pieces
3 slices of bacon (see notes)
2 T bacon grease or butter
1 small onion
1/2 t garlic salt
1/4 t red pepper flakes (or to taste, optional)
black pepper to taste
In a small skillet, cook bacon until crispy. Remove crispy bacon from skillet, reserving the bacon grease to use in recipe, and crumble bacon into bowl.
Chop onion and saute in skillet in bacon grease. Add garlic salt, red pepper flakes (optional), and black pepper. Stir to combine.
Add beet greens, all at once, and stir to coat with onion mixture. Sprinkle with crumbled bacon. Cover and turn heat to simmer and cook greens for five to ten minutes or until the tenderness of your liking. You can also add a couple tablespoons of water and cover with a lid to “steam” the mixture.
Serve with Spicy Apricot Glazed Salmon with Sauce or Southern Battered Fish Fillets. Serves 4-6.
Notes: If you want to cut some fat out of this dish…which is totally not Southern…use butter or vegetable cooking spray like Pam to saute the onions and add two tablespoons of bacon bits in place of crumbled bacon.
{ 0 comments }
