Garlic Stir-Fried Greens

When the summer growing season hits its stride, my refrigerator becomes filled to the brim with greens of all types.  I buy big bags of salad greens at the farmers' market, only to get resupplied with even more greens from my CSA share.  What's a girl to do with all of these healthy, vitamin-rich greens?  Two thoughts: garlic and stir-fry.  

This week I had a bunch of beet greens from the farmers' market plus a big bunch of kale from my CSA share.  I'd never cooked with beet greens before, but I didn't want to throw away perfectly good produce.  My food bible, How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, said that beet greens can be treated much like chard in recipes.  To make the most of the huge, leafy stalks, I decided to add the beet greens to my stir-fry.  (The beets will show up later is a salad!)  The resulting stir-fry was an amazing treat.  The greens had fried up perfectly, the rice was flavorful, and a dash of soy sauce and  Sriracha added a salty kick.  I had just a tad leftover, which I sauteed up the next day with some frozen vegetables for a hearty lunch.  If you ever find yourself swimming in piles of leafy greens, this is a great way to serve them up!

Garlic Stir-Fried Greens

serves 2

Ingredients

for rice:

Light drizzle of olive oil

1 shallot or 1/2 of a small onion, sliced thin

1/2 cup of rice

1 cup vegetable stock

for greens:

1 tablespoon grapeseed oil or other neutral-flavored oil

1 shallot or the other half of the onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

4 large handfuls of mixed greens (kale, beet greens, spinach, chard, etc.), washed and chopped into bite-sized pieces

2 teaspoons soy sauce

1/2 teaspoon Sriracha

Directions

In a small sauce pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat.  Add the shallot and saute until translucent.  Add the dry rice and toast in the pan for about 3 minutes.  Pour the vegetable stock into the pan and bring to a boil.  Cover and reduce the heat, cooking according to the package directions, until the rice is cooked.  

In a large saute pan or wok, heat the grapeseed oil.  Add the shallot and saute until translucent.  Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes.  Add the greens, and saute using a pair of tongs to gently turn the greens.  Once the greens have cooked down, add the soy sauce and Sriracha.  Toss again to coat.  Remove from heat.

Once the rice is done cooking, throw it into the wok/saute pan and gently fry it over medium heat for about 5 minutes.  Add in your cooked greens, and toss everything to incorporate.  Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.  Serve warm.

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