Italian Beans & Greens

Green leafy vegetables such as kale, chard, collard greens, spinach, parsley, arugula and dark green and red leaf lettuce are high in carotenoids, vitamins and fiber. Best eaten raw in salads, on healthy sandwiches, lightly steamed or in nutritious soups.


O.k. so you know they're good for you. Now what do you do with them? I'm surprised at how many people say they've never tried most leafy greens other than salad. We love them so much at our house that I decided to grow some in pots in our little backyard so we would always have some available for last minute Kale or Collard cravings. You can throw them in so many dishes.


Here are a few of our favorites! Check back frequently for more yummy recipes with greens!

Italian Beans and Greens (collard greens)

1. Cut the stems of the collard greens out. They are thick and tough to chew.

2. Chop them into about 1 inch slices

(this pic was before I cut the stems out, it's easier to do that first or you'll waste a lot of the leafy part.)

3. Rinse them under cold water very well. Sand sometimes hides in between all of the leaves.

TIME     30 MINUTES        SERVES 6-8

Ingredients:
1 bunch Collard Greens1 medium yellow onion, chopped2 15 oz. cans Canelinni Beans (white kidney beans)1 14 oz can Organic Tomato Sauce1 15 oz can (about 2 cups) Low Sodium Chicken Broth2 Mild or Hot Italian Sausage Links1 TBSP EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
Directions:
Prepare collard greens as instructed above.Meanwhile, heat a large ceramic coated cast iron skillet (or similar large stock pot) over medium-high heat. add EVOO.

Take the casings off of the sausage & discard. Add sausage into pot. Using a spoon, break up the sausage and brown, about 4 minutes.

Add onion and cook about 3-4 minutes more, crumbling sausage as you go.Remove sausage & onion, keeping a TBSP or so of the grease in the pan.Add the Collard Greens to the pan and turn them to coat with the oil. Stir occasionally while they cook down. About 10 minutes.Add the sausage mixture, beans, tomato sauce and broth. Turn heat down to medium-low, cover and cook another 15 minutes stirring occasionally.Serve with my herb bread or another crusty bread.serves 8-10. makes great leftovers!