A number of people have told me that they’d buy more greens from the farmers markets, but just don’t know how to prepare them. While there are lots of exceptional recipes out there, I generally default to my default method of cooking greens: sauté garlic in olive oil, add broth or water, add cleaned, cut greens and some salt and pepper, wilt to taste (annotated directions below). Since this method works so well with the greens I have known and loved for years, I use it on all the new greens I encounter to get a sense of where they fit in the time/space continuum. After that, I’m free to take new greens off into new directions.

How I make default (every day) greens

1. Clean and cut the greens. Depending on the size of the leaf, some greens can be left whole (like arugula) while others need to be cut (like kale). I like to cut mine into bite-sized pieces, as if they were going into a salad. (But no, they’re not.) Depending on the type of green, you may need to rinse them more than once—some greens bring more of their soil medium along with them. I use a salad spinner. I fill the bowl with water, dump in the cut greens, and splash them around awhile. Then I lift the leaf pieces out into the basket. The final rinse is in the basket with a full spin.
2. Sauté some garlic in olive oil in a pan. Sometimes I use an ordinary frying pan, other times the big sauce pan, depending on the bulk of the raw greens. Greens like escarole take a lot of space raw but will wilt down to fit into a small bowl!



You could also use garlic scapes instead of garlic for a subtler flavor.



Or use scallions or onions or shallots—whatever makes the flavor you like. I typically use garlic. For an average bunch of greens, I use two or three cloves. (Cloves are the segments of the bulb.)

You can chop the garlic, mince it, or leave it whole, depending on how intense of a garlic flavor you want. You want to lightly brown or caramelize the garlic to bring out its sweetness.

3. Add liquid to the pan. I often use chicken broth, but have also used water or other broths. You can even use some white wine. Or a mix of the three! For an average bunch of greens, figure on 1/4 to 1/2 cups of liquid.
4. Add the greens to the pan with some salt and pepper.



5. Cover and wilt.



6. Occasionally, toss with the tongs.
7. Taste test and re-season if necessary.
8. Serve.

Here are some samples

Escarole:

Spinach and scapes:

Arugula and Endive Frissee:

You can cook kale this way as well as swiss chard, mustard greens, vitamin greens, beet greens, and even broccoli rabe (rapini). Some folks like to sprinkle a few red pepper flakes on top—go for it.

See—it’s easy being green! (wow, I can hear you groaning from here.)