power greens in padella

We used to have a local family owned supermarket chain called Genuardi's. Then the family sold out to Safeway. We were not too happy about it but this store is on the way home from the office for dr bob so it remains our forage source for quick food acquisitions. Then Giant bought out the Safeway owned still Genuard's signed supermarket chain. More unwelcome changes, but fortunately some good things came about too.

Like these washed not uneconomical bags of spinach plus power greens we found in the new product lineup. Every fall bob is in withdrawal from the unavailability of his favorite cooking green, an Italian chard called bieta that simply does not find its way to our shores. And so experiments with various substitutes. Kale has big hype supporting it from nutritional considerations, but nearly every time and every way we do them up, it still tastes like eating tin foil. Okay, not exactly, nor have we ever eaten tin foil to really say for sure, but it certainly gives us that impression.

So we grabbed this bag from NewStar advertising spinach, baby, baby bok choy, baby red and green chard, epinards, mini pak-choi et juene bette a carde, rouge et verte---oops the list merged right into the French translation. Here reproduced without those tedious accents that require extra effort to insert in web pages. For some reason this product has dual language packaging. "No prep---cooks in 3 minutes, delicious flavor---NOT BITTER (our emphasis), aucune preparation---cuit en 3 minutes, delicieuse saveur, sans amertume." bob does not go for the bitter greens either, so this appealed immediately to him. And the trial run proved satisfactory.

Rich in antioxidants. Beta carotene, Vitamins A and C. Excellent source of Folate and Vitamin K with 7.4 mg of Lutein per 85g serving! Lutein? And those pesky European units. About 1/4 bag. Looks like we get 2 servings apiece (American servings, not European, where this whole bag is hardly one serving). We'll spare you the French translation.

"In padella" in Italy means "in the pan" literally but it really means a preparation style that is used everywhere there for cooking greens. Bieta, cicoria (not like the American kind), spinach, they saut� it all in olive oil with garlic and red pepper flakes and serve supersized portions, not a bad thing, since these greens are great for you. We love 'em. Maybe you should too.

ingredients

a big bag of a power greens mix, prewashed
extra virgin olive oil
minced garlic to taste, or sliced as you like it
red pepper flakes to taste

instructions

  1. You have to experiment with the amounts depending on the bag size of your power greens.
  2. Cook the greens in a big pot with  minimal water till they shrink down. The shrinkage is why you need to start with a big bag. Then drain in a colander.
  3. Heat up the oil and toss in the garlic and red pepper flakes with medium heat.
  4. Before you burn the garlic, toss in all the greens and mix it up until they are warmed through.
  5. Serve in generous portions.

notes

  1. NewStar, a California based company that specializes in producing green veggies, mostly cooking or salad greens but also asparagus and green onions, for example. We picked up their 13.25 oz = 376 g easy use plastic bag at Giant of NewStar Cooking with Spinach Plus Power Greens.
  2. Costco offers an economically priced 1.5 lb organic Power Greens package. Good for two people. Any more guests and you need 2 bags. From Earthbound which offers small overpriced packages to Whole Foods and other supermarkets.
  3. Illustrations available.
powergreens.htm: 19-sep-2016 [what, ME cook? © 1984 dr bob enterprises]