A  NW version of a Mess-O-Greens

• 2 lbs of any kind of green (collards, kale, turnip greens, radish greens, brussel sprout greens)

                Chiffonade and remove stems

In a frying pan

Cook 1/2 lb of bacon, cut into ½" slices, until crisp.  Pour off the fat into a container that can be stored in the fridge for later.

In a med. size, non-reactive soup pot with a lid:

• Sauté 2 med. yellow onions-diced (use 1 Tb of bacon fat with ¼ cup of olive oil)
• And 4-5 cloves of minced garlic.
• Pinch of nutmeg

Cook until the onions smell sweet (about 15 min over med. low)

• Add 2 T of pepper vinegar  -omit if you don’t like hot stuff and just use plain apple cider vinegar.

To make your own pepper vinegar, use ½ cup of rice vinegar, a pinch of salt, 1 Tb sriracha pepper sauce)

• Add  ¼ cup of  cooked bacon pieces (save the rest for serving)
• 2-3 cups of stock  (pork, chicken)
• 1 tsp black pepper

Bring to a boil.

Put all of the prepared greens into the pot.  Toss ingredients together and cover.

Cook 25 min on simmer with the lid on.

Toss and check for flavoring of pot liquor.  It might need more salt depending on your stock or bacon.

Depending on how tender you want the greens…you can stop right now or

Simmer for another 15 min.  (That’s a cultural preference!) Our most recent mess o greens we cooked for a total of 55 minutes and they were tender but still had plenty of character.

Serve with a sprinkle of the fried bacon pieces on top.

The juice that comes off is called pot liquor -nummy stuff. Serve some in each bowl and sop it up with a biscuit or a chunk of corn bread. 

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