Friday, June 19, 2009

Sicilian-Style Sauteed Greens


As I mentioned recently, I love the combo of garlic, raisins, pinenuts and crushed red pepper flakes. I've had this combo on broccoli, chard, spinach and cauliflower and it's always good. I love this recipe for Sicilian-Style Sauteed Greens from Martha Stewart's Cooking School cookbook. It's easy and delicious. Perfect for this time of year when the farmers markets are sprinkled with fresh, local rainbow chard.
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Sicilian-Style Sauteed Greens
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For greens
1 pound Swiss chard

For nut mixture
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 medium shallots, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
Pinch of red pepper flakes
1/3 cup pine nuts, toasted
1/3 cup raisins (golden or dark)

For sauteing greens
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
Juice of 1/2 lemon (1 to 2 tablespoons)
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

Prepare Greens
Remove stems from chard. Fill a large bowl with cold water. Add leaves and let stand, swishing in water occasionally to loosen grit, for 1 minute. Lift greens out of water. Drain bowl and rinse out grit. Repeat until no grit remains in bottom of bowl when greens are removed, up to 4 more times. Repeat with stems. Slice greens crosswise into 1-inch-wide strips. Slice stems into 1/2-inch pieces, cutting just enough to yield 1 cup (discard remaining stems).
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Cook Nut Mixture
Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook shallots for a few minutes, until starting to soften. Add garlic and red pepper flakes and saute until fragrant but not brown, about 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add nuts and raisins and cook, stirring, until fragrant and raisins have softened, about 2 minutes more. Remove from pan; set aside.
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Saute Greens
Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in same skillet. Stir in the chard stems and cook for 1 minute. Add greens one handful at a time, stirring to wilt slightly before adding more, then cook until wilted and tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Squeeze lemon juice over greens and season with salt and pepper. Return nut mixture to pan and stir into greens. Serve immediately.

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