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A lucky twist on New Year's greens

Recipe: Baby kale (or collards) with capers cooks quickly

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED DEC 30, 2018

Here's a quick New Year's dish: Stir-fry baby kale or other baby winter greens with shallots, garlic
and capers. (Photos: Debbie Arrington)

Like all holidays, tradition packs New Year's celebrations. That includes food.

Black-eyed peas and collard greens are a longtime Southern standard, bringing good luck and fortune for the new year. The peas represent coins that will find a way to your pockets; the greens, "folding money" for your wallet.

We've had black-eyed peas and greens on New Year's most of my life. But I always thought the slow-cooked collards looked more like ragged dollar bills that had been through several wash cycles than fresh, crisp notes. A new year deserves new money.

So I subbed baby greens for their mature counterparts. They cook in a fraction of the time. Plus they look and taste fresh -- like a New Year should. Also, I tend to have a lot of baby greens in mid-winter; baby greens are what you harvest when you thin vegetable rows.

Baby kale or chard is more common at farmers markets or grocery stores than baby collards. Any of those greens will work in this recipe. Just make sure the greens are well washed. (Dirt tends to cling to tiny crevices.) Submerge them in a bowl or basin of water, then drain in a colander.

For this recipe, I used baby Lacinato or Tuscan kale (also known as dino kale). Its dark blue-green, nearly black leaves turn emerald green when cooked. It becomes tender in minutes, not hours, retaining most of that bright color. (Faster cooking also tends to retain more of the greens' high nutritional value.)

This is a meatless version of greens; no ham hock, bacon or chicken broth. Instead, capers, red pepper flakes and white wine vinegar add a kick of extra flavor (and no fat).

Besides lucky, these greens are healthy, vegan and quick. That could make "more baby greens" part of your New Year's resolutions.

Baby greens and capers
Makes 3 to 4 servings

Ingredients:

May baby greens with capers bring you luck and good
health in 2019

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 shallots, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound baby kale, baby collards and/or baby chard
1/2 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons capers, drained
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

Instructions:

In a large pot over medium heat, heat olive oil, then sauté shallots and garlic until soft, about 2 to 3 minutes.

Wash greens well. Tear larger leaves into 2- to 3-inch pieces, removing any large center ribs or tough stems.

Add greens by handfuls to pot, stir frying with each addition. Stir until leaves start to wilt and turn bright green. Add water and seasoning; cover and reduce heat to simmer. Cook 5 minutes.

Uncover and stir in capers. Keep cooking until remaining water evaporates, about 2 to 3 minutes.
Remove from heat. Drizzle with vinegar and stir.

Serve immediately.

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RECIPE

A recipe for preparing delicious meals from the bounty of the garden.

Keywords:

collards gardening Sacramento chard vegetables recipes winter New Year's holiday food recipe winter greens holiday food kale vegan recipe

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Garden Checklist for week of March 16

Make the most of dry breaks between showers. Your garden is in high-growth mode.

* Pull weeds now! Don’t let them get started. Take a hoe and whack them as soon as they sprout.

* Prepare vegetable beds. Spade in compost and other amendments.

* Prune and fertilize spring-flowering shrubs after bloom.

* Feed camellias at the end of their bloom cycle. Pick up browned and fallen flowers to help corral blossom blight.

* Feed citrus trees, which are now in bloom and setting fruit. To prevent sunburn and borer problems on young trees, paint the exposed portion of the trunk with diluted white latex (water-based) interior paint. Dilute the paint with an equal amount of cold water before application.

* Feed roses with a balanced fertilizer (such as 10-10-10, the ratio of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium available in that product).

* Prune and fertilize spring-flowering shrubs and trees after they bloom. Try using well-composted manure, spread 1-inch-thick under the tree (but avoid piling it up around the trunk). This serves as both fertilizer and mulch, retaining moisture while cutting down on weeds.

* Cut back and fertilize perennial herbs to encourage new growth.

* In the vegetable garden, transplant lettuce and cole family plants, such as cauliflower, broccoli, collards and kale.

* Seed chard and beets directly into the ground. (To speed germination, soak beet seeds overnight in room-temperature water before planting.)

* Before the mercury starts inching upward, this is your last chance to plant such annuals as pansies, violas and primroses.

* Plant summer bulbs, including gladiolus, tuberous begonias and callas. Also plant dahlia tubers.

* Shop for perennials. Many varieties are available in local nurseries and at plant events. They can be transplanted now while the weather remains relatively cool.

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