Name: Wilted and Sauteed Tender Greens
Total time: 20 min
Ingredients: 3 tablespoons olive oil; 2 medium cloves garlic , minced; 2 pounds fresh spinach , beet greens, or Swiss chard, cleaned and stemmed per illustrations below (do not dry); Salt and ground black pepper; Lemon wedges (optional)

Why This Recipe Works

Between blanching, steaming, microwaving, and wilting, the simplest, most straightforward tender greens recipe proved to be wilting on the stovetop. We simply tossed the leaves, wet from washing, into a heated sauté pan, covered it, and cooked, stirring occasionally, until the greens were wilted by the steam from their own liquid. We then found that we got even better results when combining this technique with sautéing—we heated oil in a sauté pan, added the wet greens, covered and steamed them until wilted, and then uncovered the pan and cooked on high until all the liquid had evaporated.

Instructions

Heat oil with garlic in large, nonreactive sauté pan or Dutch oven. When garlic starts to turn golden, add wet greens. Cover and cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until greens completely wilt, but are still bright green, about 5 minutes. Uncover, season to taste with salt and pepper. Cook over high heat until liquid evaporates, 2 to 3 minutes longer. Serve immediately, with lemon wedges, if desired.