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Cool Cooked Greens with Lemon

A classic preparation, useful year-round, and especially convenient when you want to cook the greens in advance.

Recipe information

  • Yield

    makes 4 servings

Ingredients

Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 pounds dark leafy greens, like collards, kale, or spinach
Several tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 lemons, cut in half

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it. Trim the greens of any stems thicker than 1/4 inch; discard them. Wash the greens well.

    Step 2

    Simmer the greens until tender, just a minute or two for spinach, up to 10 minutes or even longer for older, tougher greens. Drain them well and cool them quickly by running them under cold water.

    Step 3

    Squeeze the greens dry and chop them. (You may prepare the salad in advance up to this point; cover and refrigerate for up to a day, then bring to room temperature before proceeding.) Sprinkle with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and serve with lemon halves.

From Mark Bittman's Quick and Easy Recipes From the New York Times by Mark Bittman Copyright (c) 2007 by Mark Bittman Published by Broadway Books. Mark Bittman is the author of the blockbuster Best Recipes in the World (Broadway, 2005) and the classic bestseller How to Cook Everything, which has sold more than one million copies. He is also the coauthor, with Jean-Georges Vongerichten, of Simple to Spectacular and Jean-Georges: Cooking at Home with a Four-Star Chef. Mr. Bittman is a prolific writer, makes frequent appearances on radio and television, and is the host of The Best Recipes in the World, a 13-part series on public television. He lives in New York and Connecticut.
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