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lynnalexandra

Cooking Southern Greens - Kale and Beet Greens

lynnalexandra
12 years ago

Hi. This year for the first time, I've joined a CSA - and am really enjoying finding ways to eat whatever's local and seasonal (I was eating seasonally before, but just bought things from a Farmer's Market that I was prepared to prepare). Now I am learning to cook a wider range of seasonal foods.

So now, I have kale and beet greens (already had the beets). I found the recipe below on food.com and it looks great, but I have some questions:

* 1 bunch kale

* 1 bunch beet leaves (collards, mustard, turnip) or 1 bunch other greens (collards, mustard, turnip)

* 1 large onion, sliced

* 1 tablespoon olive oil

* 2 garlic cloves, minced

* 2 jalapeno peppers, minced (discard seeds for less heat)

* 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

* 1/4 cup cubed ham (I used prepackage mini cubes)

* 3 slices bacon

* 2 1/2 cups water (more if needed)

* salt and pepper

* balsamic vinegar (optional)

Change Measurements: US : Metric

Directions:

Prep Time: 10 mins

Total Time: 4 1/4 hrs

  1. 1 Tear greens into large pieces and discard the thick vein. Add greens to a pot of boiling salted water (I use kosher salt). Let boil for about 6 minutes. Drain and Rinse.
  2. 2 While the greens are boiling, preheat a heavy skillet with olive oil, add onion and garlic; saut� until onions are lightly brown, add minced jalapeno peppers and cook for an additional minute or two.
  3. 3 Put the saut�ed onions in the slow-cooker then add the drained greens, ham, bacon, crushed red pepper and water.
  4. 4 Cook on high for 4 hours or until greens are tender.
  5. 5 Serve with balsamic vinegar, optional.

Read more: http://www.food.com/recipe/perfect-southern-greens-kale-beet-collard-greens-mustard-163356#ixzz1Mi3sBOxQ

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My questions: is it easy to buy pre-packaged ham cubes? I wouldn't know where to look - Giant,Safeway, Whole Foods? Are there alternatives? If there are no ham cubes, what other types could I use?

This is embarassing - but what is a slow cooker? I have dutch oven type of heavy duty pots. Is that a slow cooker? Or is it more like an electric crock pot (which I don't have).

Four hours will be tough to squeeze in tonight. Am I okay going for 2-3 hours? or should I just make this another night and get the full 4 hours in?

Any, of course, any other fairly simple ideas for these greens? CSA deliveries are on Wednesday - which means I'm looking for easier weeknight options.

Thanks.

Lynn.

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