Sauted kale (or any greens)

We borrowed this one from Bobby Flay, so please refer to the original if you have questions.  :)   http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/bobby-flay/sauteed-kale-recipe-1960155

Ingredients
1 bunch kale (Bobby Flay says 1.5 lbs, but we just buy a bundle of kale and call it good; you can also use beet greens, which we do on the same night we make roasted beets.  Beet greens are delicious!)
3 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
1/4 c olive oil
1/2 c. chicken or vegetable stock or water (we use boullion paste/cubes and add it to water)
2 Tbs. red wine vinegar

Here is the boullion product that I like. You can find it at all major grocery stores around here near the gravy mixes and chicken stock.


Tools
cutting board
knife
stock pot (or largest sauce pan that you have)
Wooden spoon (or something with which to stir)

Instructions

Wash the kale or other greens (other greens include Swiss Chard or spinach).  Chop the kale roughly and into fairly large pieces, half the size of a dollar bill or even a bit less.  Bobby Flay says to include the stems, but we find the stems to be hard to chew so we often cut them out.

Deveining a beet green is shown here. Then the leaf is chopped after the big vein is popped out.

choppin'

 Heat the oil in the big pot on medium heat.  Add the garlic and cook until soft but not brown (this only takes about a minute; if it turns brown it's not ruined, it will just have a different flavor).

lots of garlic is what makes the greens palatable. This is what our garlic looks like after we've finely chopped it.

Frying the garlic for a brief minute before adding the greens.  Don't let it brown!  If it does it's not ruined, it'll just have a roasted garlic flavor, which is different than plain garlic flavor. 

Add all of the kale/greens at once (this is why you need a big pot; the greens are fluffy before they cook down), and add the stock or water.  Turn heat to high. Stir it all together until the greens are covered in oil and stock.

Greens are fluffy at first!

Adding some boullion paste to 1/2 cup of water. 

Adding the stock to the greens.  To save time, we often microwave the stock for a minute before pouring it on the hot greens, so that the whole mixture doesn't loose temperature. 

 Put the lid on and let the greens cook for 5 minutes, then take the lid off and cook them, stirring frequently, until all of the moisture is gone.  I've found that for particularly tough greens (like winter kale!) it can take a bit longer to cook, so I leave the lid on longer and am sure to add more moisture (water or stock) if they need to continue cooking but are running out of moisture.  For soft greens like spinach, 5 minutes might be too long because they are fairly tender prior to cooking.  You just have to pluck a green out of the pot and into your mouth to determine if it's done to your liking or not!  This will also help you determine if you need to add more salt. 

They're done! 

Stir in the vinegar and additional salt/pepper as needed. You of course can skip the vinegar, but I've found that I think the vinegar makes the greens much tastier.

Dinner is served! Who knows what else was going on our plates that night, lol.