Simple Garlic Greens

(from the Clothes Make the Girl)

You need: greens, olive oil, fresh garlic, salt, pepper, a lemon wedge

Directions:
1. Wash the greens. Remove any tough and/or thick ribs, then roughly chop or tear the leaves. Don't dry the leaves; you want that water for steaming.

2. Heat a large skillet and throw in about half the greens. Stir 'til starting to wilt, then add the rest. Put a lid on it! During this process, you may need to add more water – bonus! beef or chicken broth – to convince the leaves to mellow out. Kale takes a while; beet tops are a little more willing to give it up.

3. When the leaves are dark green and as wilted as you like them – as all things, I like mine very well-done, which means quite wilted – take off the lid and let any remaining water evaporate.

4. Turn off the heat and drizzle some olive oil over the greens. Crush a clove or two of garlic into the pan. Stir.

5. Sprinkle with a little sea salt and pepper, then, if you like, a squeeze of fresh lemon juice

My Thoughts:  I used Mustard Greens.  Yuck.  Wait, I need to say it again. Yuck.  I might even need to yell it since my mouth is still not happy with me.  I have no doubt that if I made this with Kale I would have fallen in love with the recipe but mustard greens are not my friend.  Very easy recipe to make and I'd probably try it again with a different green because, as we all know, I like my garlic.

Basil Tomatoes

(from the Paleo Diet by Loren Cordain and Joe Friel, p247)


serves 4

4 medium tomatoes, sliced
¼ cup flaxseed oil
1½ tbs lemon juice
½ tsp onion powder
½ tsp dried basil
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1 clove garlic, minced


Place the tomatoes in a shallow dish. Combine the remaining ingredients and pour the dressing over the tomatoes. Cover and refrigerate before serving.


My thoughts:  Skip the flaxseed oil and go straight to olive oil.  There's not a pleasent aftertaste with the flaxseed oil.  Other than that, this was delicious and really fast/easy to make.

Stir-Fried Garlic Asparagus

(from the Paleo Diet by Loren Cordain and Joe Friel)

1 clove garlic, minced
2 tbs olive oil
1 lb fresh asparagus spears
1 tbs lemon juice

Cook the garlic in the oil until soft, stirring frequently.  Add the asparagus spears.  Cook until tender, 3 to 5 minutes.  Pour the lemon juice over the asparagus.

My thoughts:  I substituted coconut oil for the olive oil which made cooking the garlic and the asparagus a little tricky but I'm happy with the way it turned out.  Amazingly tasty.  I liked the tartness of the lemon mixed with the garlic flavor.  I probably should have cooked the asparagus a little longer since it was rather crunchy.  But yummy.  Definitely make this again.