When you cook vitamin-rich leafy greens with fragrant garlic and splash them with a bit of of sherry vinegar, they become these addictive garlicky sautéed greens.
Click here to PIN Garlicky Sautéed Greens!
Garlicky sautéed greens are an easy and delicious vegetable side dish, a very versatile recipe to keep in your back pocket. For a simple and satisfying vegetarian dinner, serve your sautéed greens with steamed brown rice or quinoa, and a protein, like golden tofu or tempeh.
For these photos I used a mix of frilly Russian kale and beet greens. You could sauté just type of leafy green, like kale or chard, or you can use a mix of leafy greens.
2 bunches of greens will seem like a HUGE amount, but they’ll shrink down to serve 4 to 6 persons. Robbie and I love garlicky greens and sometimes end dinner with only enough for one person’s lunch the next day.
The splash of sherry vinegar, any vinegar for that matter, heightens the flavor of the greens and at the same time softens the intensity of both the greens and the garlic. Taste the difference–take a bite before and after you add the vinegar. Amazing!
Garlicky Sautéed Greens recipe notes:
- Sherry vinegar (affiliate) is delicious with sautéed greens, but you can substitute lemon juice or apple cider or red wine vinegar.
- If chard is one of your greens, chop and include the stems. Stir them into the hot oil before adding the garlic, and sauté 5 minutes, until they soften. Then add the garlic.
- Kale and collard greens need more cooking time, plan on about 15 minutes.
- I’m a big believer in a garlic press (affilate) for mincing garlic—I rarely chop it by hand. Mine is high-quality stainless steel and has lasted for many years.
- You might also like these Green Enchiladas with arugula and spinach.
About Beet Greens: At Farmer’s Markets and at the natural food store here in town, you usually find beets with their gorgeous leafy tops intact, the leaves with barely a wilt. That’s two veggies for the price of one—fresh greens and their bulbous root. What to do with the beet greens? Make garlicky sautéed greens!
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Garlicky Sautéed Greens
Ingredients
- 2 bunches greens (see note)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic , minced
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
- Pinch red pepper flakes , optional
Instructions
- Wash the greens well, but do not dry. Strip and discard the leaves from the stems. Coarsely chop the leaves into 1 ½-inch pieces, more or less.
- Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium flame. Add the garlic and cook and stir a minute or so, until fragrant but not brown.
- Sir in the chopped greens and sprinkle with salt. Cover and cook until the greens are tender, about 5 minutes. Splash with vinegar, stirring it into the greens along with the red pepper flakes, if using. Taste and adjust seasoning.
Notes
- Choose one or several different greens. I like to mix one stronger green, like kale, and one more tender green, like chard or beet greens.
- If using a tougher green, like kale or collard greens, plan on more cooking time–about 15 minutes.
- If chard is one of your greens, chop and include the stems. Stir them into the hot oil before adding the garlic, and sauté 5 minutes, until they soften. Then add the garlic.
Top of the mornin’ to you, Letty! It’s spicy mustard greens for us today. Thank you! xo · 17 March, 2016
Thanks Maura–Greens for the win! · 17 March, 2016
We have another favorite Corned Beef story. Mom went on a retreat weekend and left Dad in charge. She started corned beef and cabbage in the pressure cooker and Dad didn’t remember to cool the cooker down and took a hammer to it to open. Dinner was off the ceiling! I hate boiled cabbage and stir-fry it with celery, onion, garlic. Our kids would eat almost a head of cabbage this way. I got the idea from an old Betty Crocker recipe for Chinese cabbage. When I learned about Colcannon I just stirred in mashed potatoes to the stir-fry. Then I got lazy and just cooked, unpeeled red taters to the cabbage and we’d eat lots. · 20 March, 2016
Katie, I had heard of a Daddy disaster pressure cooker story–but didn’t know it was with the corned beef and cabbage! So many folks have food-on-the-ceiling pressure cooker stories–it’s hard to convince them to explore the time-saving delicious meals made possible with pressure cookers. Thanks for the giggle. · 20 March, 2016