Braising Greens

I've recently been experimenting with braising greens--inspired by my friend Rebecca when I went to visit her and her family last weekend in GorgeOus Ithaca. We were discussing how sensible it seems to eat cooked vegetables instead of fresh vegetables as the weather outside gets colder. And since we are both constantly changing our diets for health reasons, and since for the moment that means we're both trying to do whatever our acupuncturists tell us to do, and they tell us to eat hot and seasonal food--- bring on the braised greens!

Rebecca made for me this incredibly tasty, healthy, and super simple lunch of braised greens with potstickers. Just sautee onions, carrots, (i think beets would be good too) and garlic in sesame oil. Add the greens (bok choy and chard) and mix. Add tamari, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar. Cover and periodically stir until greens wilt down. Serve with potstickers (in this case, the frozen ones. but i'd love to make my own, since it's impossible to get even the frozen ones around here).

This new cooking venture reminded me of a dish I made a few times earlier this spring, when I was getting spinach from my CSA by the armful, and it wasn't yet super hot outside. This recipe also uses brussels sprouts. I know they get a bad rap, but I actually really like brussels sprouts. I didn't know this until about 2 years ago, but I think they're quite tasty. Of course, pretty much anything is good if you cook it in butter. The recipe I found for this said to boil the spinach and sprouts first and then cook in a frying pan after, but i think braising is a better route. A few things make this recipe seem dated. One being the use of butter (which I've joyously cut from my diet) the other the use of spinach (pre E-coli scare-- but yet another good reason to have the CSA). In any case, I hope you enjoy this sort of strange but surpisingly good dish. I served it with polenta. (does it count as "serving" if you are just serving it to yourself? probably not.)

for one serving, you need:
~ spinach (about two good handfuls)
~ brussels srouts (5-10 depending)
~ apple, peeled, cored, sliced thin (i usually go for fuji, but i think honey crisp would be good too)
~ small onion
~ clove garlic
~ buttah
~ salt, pepp
~ cinnamon

sautee the onion and garlic in the butter, season. toss in the b.sprouts and sautee for a minute or two. add apples and mix. add spinach, lower heat and cover. periodically turn until done. add dash of cinnamon and serve it up.

So, any braised veg recipes I would love to have from you all, my favorite foodies (if any of you are still out there). And is anyone else incredibly psyched for soup season? I am, I am!