Collard greens, lima beans, crispy sage & spiced croutons

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Collard -greens-and-lima-beans-recipe

Ingredients:

  • 1.5 cups of lima beans (if dried, follow directions for cooking before starting this recipe…or just use them from a can)
  • 10 fresh sage leaves (more or less if you’d like)
  • ¼ tsp of red pepper flakes
  • 4 cloves of garlic sliced into thin strips
  • 1 large bunch of Collard Greens (can use kale or chard) cleaned and cut/torn into large pieces (approximately 2-3 inch cubes)
  • 2 tblsp of vegetable oil
  • salt & pepper to taste

Boil some water in a pot and blanch the greens for about two minutes until softened and still bright and vibrant in color. Remove the greens from the pot and shock them in an ice water bath, stopping the cooking process and maintaining the bright green color of the veggie. Set the cooled greens aside.

collard-greens-recipe

Add the vegetable oil to a large skillet over high heat. Once the oil is shimmering, add the fresh sage leaves and let them fry. Once they’ve turned dark green (IE: no longer gray) take them out of the oil and let them cool on a paper towel. Leave the remaining oil in the pan. When the sage is dry it should be crispy to the touch.

crispy-sage-collard-greens-recipe

Cook the pepper flakes in the oil for a minute until aromatic. Then add the garlic and cook until fragrant, another 30 seconds. Before the garlic browns, add the cooled collard greens and mix everything together.

Add the lima beans to the skillet and gently mix trying not to break the beans up into mush. Add some of the cooking liquid from the beans (or from the can if you’re using canned beans) to the skillet to bring everything together, and season with salt and pepper.

lima-beans-and-collard-greens

When ready to plate, garnish a bed of the lima beans and collard greens with some of the crouton crumble (recipe below) and fried sage.

collard-greens-side-dish

Croutons

Ingredients:

  • 3 one inch slices of sourdough or French bread
  • ¼ tsp ground white pepper
  • ¼ tsp paprika
  • ¼ tsp garlic powder
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp oregano
  • 3 tbslp olive oil

Whisk all the dry ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.

Cut the bread into inch cubes and place in a bowl. Drizzle the bread cubes with the olive oil and spice mixture and gently toss with your fingers. Use a little more oil if you need to make sure each piece of bread has some oil on it. The bread should not be soggy, soaked, or completely coated in oil.

sourdough-croutons-recipe

Spread the spiced cubes out evenly on a baking sheet, and bake in the oven at 350° for 10-15 minutes until golden and crispy.

how-to-make-sourdough-croutons

Take them out of the oven and let them cool. With your hands or with any blunt kitchen utensil, gently break up the cubes into smaller irregular pieces depending on the texture you’re looking for.

Tid bits:

  • You can make the beans in advance if you’re using dried beans. Should plan your timing though since beans can take a day of soaking and several hours to heat slowly before they’re ready to eat.
  • You can make the croutons with any herbs or dried spices you like really. Go crazy and try your own blend.
  • The croutons can be made in advance. They add a little crunch to the dish and soak up some of the cooking juices. If you left them out of the dish altogether, it wouldn’t be a crime.
  • You can also shave a hard, salty cheese on top of the braised ribs or the greens if you’re looking for a richer dish.
  • If you’re making your own beans, the cooking liquid will have a lot of flavor. Before adding that to your collard greens and bean mixture, add some apple cider vinegar and some sugar to the bean cooking liquid and then add the liquid to the skillet. This will help develop some of the flavors a little more.