Name: Tender Greens with Indian Spices
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 2 teaspoons vegetable oil; 1 small onion , minced; 2 medium cloves garlic , minced; 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger; 1/2 medium jalapeño chile , seeded and minced; 2 teaspoons curry powder; 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin; 2 pounds fresh spinach , beet greens,or Swiss chard, cleaned and stemmed per illustrations below, (do not dry); Salt and ground black pepper; 1/4 cup heavy cream; 2 teaspoons brown sugar

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 in large, nonreactive sauté pan or Dutch oven. Add onion, cook until partially softened, about 1 minute. Add next 5 ingredients; cook until onion softens and spices are fragrant, about 2 minutes longer. 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. Add cream and brown sugar; cook uncovered, until cream thickens, about 2 minutes longer. Serve immediately.