Eat Your Greens (& Tahini Too!)

Do you eat your greens, people?

Some dark leafies I eat raw in salads, like baby spinach and wild spring mix. But, for other leafies like kale and swiss chard, it's all about sauteeing - just lightly - at least, for me!

Pictured is some kale that I lightly sauteed, and I've drizzle on some Sesame Mustard Tahini Sauce from Vive le Vegan!,which I'll get to in just a bit.

First, since some of you may not know how to prepare greens, this is one way I like to eat 'em. Very lightly sauteed. This is how I do it:

1) Buy your greens. Organic is best.
2) Wash them. Oh yes... even organic, wash them! (Don't soap them up though! Just a good soak in cold water and rinse.)
3) Dry the greens. I have a salad spinner, but you can shake or pat dry a little.
4) Trim off the thick coarse stalks and chop. For kale I cut out all of the thick stem. With swiss chard, I cut most of the thicker stem away. Then, I slice into thin slivers. I'm only covering kale and chard here because I really like those!
5) Chop a couple of cloves of garlic until very fine.
6) Add a tbsp or so of olive oil to a deep/large skillet. Add the garlic and a few pinches of s&p, and turn heat to medium-low. Cover to let garlic cook. Important: Check garlic and don't let it burn! Add a few drops of water if needed and reduce heat to low. Let cook several minutes to mellow.
7) Add greens, toss through and cover again. Cook just a couple of minutes. Longer for kale. Remove cover, sprinkle in a little tamari and a drizzle of toasted sesame oil (just a little - it goes a long way). Remove from heat (don't overcook, keep it green, not gray)
8) Serve! Drizzle on more olive oil/sesame oil if you like... or...

Tahini Sauce!!!

Note to new vegans: The first time I tasted tahini I thought it was horrid! Bitter and strange tasting. Now I really love it... perhaps my palate had developed over the years, but I understand why you may think it's awful. However... if you combine it with the right seasonings and blend it into a sauce it transforms into delicious! This sauce is a little tangy (from vinegar or lemon juice), a little salty from the tamari, and the bitterness of the tahini is balanced out with some agave nectar to sweeten and other seasonings. It's just excellent!

Tahini sauce is an ideal pairing with greens, imo. I have two tahini sauces in my books, one in TEV and the other in Vive. With sauteed greens, I prefer the one in Vive which is the Sesame Mustard Tahini Sauce. Super easy to make, guys. Just add all the ingredients and whiz in a blender or like you see in picture, with an immersion blender. Whrrrr! It's done!

But, what do you do with any leftover tahini sauce? You can:
- drizzle on sandwiches
- top veggie patties/croquettes/felafels/burgers (as shown here)
- toss into hot pasta or a pasta salad
- drizzle on quinoa or wild rice rice, or other grains.
- dip breads into it
- drizzle on a salad, or toss into a salad (you may want to thin it with water to toss in a salad, it is thick)
- serve with potatoes or fries... or yummy yam fries

Oh, and greens & tahini - double dose of calcium to boot. Hoo-ah!