Sauteed Mediterranean Greens

For those who grew up in the Mediterranean this is a very known dish. It is in fact a staple and is served as is or next to a main. I love it as is and my father used to make it nearly every day as lunch during hot summers. It is a great way to use the abundance of greens that is growing in my garden in spring and summer, and you can even use lettuce and other greens for this. In short it is a great way to eat any greens that are left over in your fridge that would go to waste.

It is easy to make, quickly cooked and doesn’t require you to slave over the stove when the weather is unbearably hot. The only thing I changed is the preparation of the potatoes. Traditionally you would slice them up really thinly and saute them with the greens. As much as I love the greens I dread the consistency of thinly sliced and cooked potatoes so I chose baby potatoes instead. They are lightly fried off in a pan with a good amount of rosemary just to infuse them with the flavour and to get some colour. 

It might not be the prettiest of all dishes but it sure is delicious and light.

Ingredients : metric ( imperial )

• 300g (10 oz) spinach, chard, kale and/or other mixed leafy greens
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 1 tsp black pepper 
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 tbsp oil, olive or whatever you prefer
• 125ml (1/2 cup) water
• 300g (10 oz) boiled baby potatoes
• 1 tsp freshly chopped rosemary, half the amount if dried
• 1 tsp oil, olive or whatever you prefer
• pinch of salt and pepper

Instructions

Boil the potatoes until done. An easy way to check this is by poking them with a fork or skewer. If they are soft all the way through they are done. Baby potatoes need about 20 minutes. Drain the hot water and rinse them with cold water. By doing this it will be a lot easier to peel them. Peel them while they are still warm and set aside. You can either leave them whole or cut them in half. If you use large potatoes cut them into cubes.

While the potatoes are boiling you can prepare your Mediterranean greens. Start by removing any tough stems from your greens to make sure all is cooking quickly and evenly. Once you have cleared the toughest bits away from the leaves, slice four cloves of garlic into nice big, but not thick, slices.

Add the leaves to a pan with the water, 3 tbsp oil, salt and pepper. I like to put a see-through lid on top of my greens at this point to lock all the goodness into the dish and to be able to keep an eye on it. After about 5 minutes on medium heat, the greens should have wilted. At this point I like to turn the greens so that all sides get an even cooking time.

While the greens are sauteing add the boiled potatoes, rosemary and 1 tsp oil to a pan and fry until slightly browned and fragrant. Season with a generous pinch of salt and pepper.

Serve sauteed greens and potatoes with a few slices of white baguette or flat-bread if you want. I tend to drizzle the bread with some olive oil and scatter some coarse sea salt over it.