Cheater Greens
Ingredients
12 ounces center-cut bacon, cut into 1⁄2” pieces
1 green garlic head, including stalk, chopped (about 3 tablespoons) OR equal amount of garlic
8-10 cups turnip greens, chopped (Can be made with any tender greens.)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
1. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add bacon to skillet and sauté until most of the fat is rendered but the bacon is not yet crisp.
2. Add garlic and turnip greens, increase heat to medium-high. Sauté until greens are just wilted, stems should be crisp.
3. Season with a generous pinch of salt, black pepper, and serve.
Note: Any combination of onion, garlic, or shallots would work well for this dish. Green garlic is young garlic that looks similar to a green onion and can be used in the same manner. I used it because it’s what I had on hand; feel free to use what you have on hand.
Comments
Having never had turnip greens before, I asked around for advice on what to do with them. “Sauté with bacon and onions” seemed to be the prevailing advice, so I opted to go for that this first time. While these were delicious, Lance feels that they were a cheat due to the bacon fat and I happen to agree with him, hence the name of the recipe. I’ll admit that I find greens to be a bit scary, so I erred on the side of bacon.
If you wanted a non-cheating method, you could reduce the bacon to only a few strips, drain the fat after sautéing the bacon, cut out the bacon all together and use olive oil, or any other method of getting fat (and flavor) into the pan that suits your dietary desires. In the future, I will probably make turnip greens with fewer strips of bacon and drain some of the fat off before adding the greens.
That all being said, did I mention that these were amazingly delicious?
Shown here with Crunchy Buttermilk-Coconut Chicken Fingers and Buttermilk Drop Biscuits.
Person - Gwen