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Garlicky braised greens with polenta

Braised greens is often all I want to eat. Sometimes I will make my stir fried snow pea shoots and call it dinner. There is a case for making a batch of greens at the start of the week and keeping them in the fridge for the days to come. They add an instant hit of big vegetable magic to every meal.

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A plate of creamy polenta topped with sautéed greens and chopped onions, served with a lemon slice and a spoon.

Served with polenta, braised greens are comforting and more-ish. Top this recipe with a jammy egg or crumbled feta. But there are also endless serving options:

Eat with rice, noodles or pasta
Pile onto toast
For breakfast, alongside scrambled eggs
Toss through white beans or chickpeas
As a topper for miso oats or jook (congree)
As a side to a carb heavy meal such as pasta

Garlicky braised greens over polenta

Serves

Ingredients

2 bunches greens such as kale, chard/silverbeet, collard greens, trimmed
3-4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more to drizzle
1 brown/yellow onion, halved and thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, very thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon red chili/pepper flakes, plus more to serve
sea salt and black pepper
250 ml vegetable stock
1 lemon, halved

Polenta

1 liter vegetable stock
150 g instant polenta
60 g nutritional yeast or finely grated Parmesan

Instructions

Remove the leaves from the stem of the greens. Finely chop the stems and place in a bowl. Roughly chop the leaves.
Place large Dutch oven or pot on medium heat. Add the olive oil and onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 3-4 minutes. Add the stems and the garlic and cook for another 3 to 4 minutes. Add the leaves to the pot - if your pot is not big enough to incorporate all at once, add the leaves in batches, allowing them to wilt before adding more - and cook, pressing the leaves down and tossing them, until wilted, about 2 minutes. Add the red chili/pepper flakes and about 1 teaspoon of salt and the vegetable stock.
Reduce heat to low and cook, stirring occasionally, until the greens are wilted and soft, about 20 minutes. The greens can tolerate even longer cooking if you want them as tender as silk. I enjoy mine with the slightest texture.
When you are ready to eat, place the vegetable stock in a large pot and bring to the boil over medium high heat. Whisk in the polenta and continue stirring until thickened, about 3-4 minutes. If the polenta is too thick, or you’d just like it looser, add a touch more hot (tap) water and continuing whisking until you are happy with the consistency. When it’s ready, stir in the nutritional yeast. Taste and if it’s not flavoursome enough, season with salt.
To serve, place some of the polenta on a plate and pile the greens on top. Drizzle with olive oil, scatter with a few red chili/pepper flakes and squeeze over some lemon. Eat immediately.