Name: Tender Greens with Soy and Sesame
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 2 teaspoons rice vinegar; 2 teaspoons granulated sugar; 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce; 1 tablespoon sesame oil; 2 tablespoons vegetable oil; 2 medium cloves garlic , minced; 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes; 2 pounds fresh spinach , beet greens, or Swiss chard, cleaned and stemmed per instructions below, (do not dry); 2 teaspoons sesame seeds , toasted

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

Mix first 4 ingredients together in small bowl; set aside. Heat vegetable oil with garlic and red pepper flakes in large 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 and cook over high heat until liquid evaporates, 2 to 3 minutes longer. Add vinegar mixture and cook until liquid evaporates, about 1 minute. Garnish with toasted sesame seeds and serve.