inspiring eaters at dakotah's indoor farmer's market

i had some major butterflies in my stomach last week.  for i jumped out of my kitchen for the first time and got my feet wet cooking with induction while talking to strangers.  with a successful peterson garden project's cooking class under my belt + a night of cooking greens on my new portable induction cooktop, i was ready to take another 1st step and cook up some vege inspiration at dakotah's indoor farmers market!

do you like to eat sautéed greens? 

my kids & chris would still say "not reeaaaaally" (but i make them eat a few bites anyway).  i cooked up 5 rounds of sautéed greens last saturday and i'll be cooking up even more next weekend for dakota's farmer's market shoppers.  

so how did it go?  the majority of the market goers were definitely wary... but after they tried one bite, everyone finished their cup!  NOT.A.ONE threw the rest out!  (and i gave them the a-ok to toss it if they didn't like it!)  i turned a ton of people ON to these delicious lovelies and i felt like i won the lottery each time.  i brought 100 recipe cards and only brought 5 cards back home!  my favorite moment was when a mother daughter pair approached and the mother said, "oh, she'll ever try that, she hates greens." perhaps out of curiosity, perhaps a little out of defiance, the 18 year old picked a cup up, took a tiny bite and said,  "this is not terrible... wow.  ok, now don't get me wrong, i'm not going to eat an entire plate of this, but i can do this amount!"  and she finished the cup.  the mom took a recipe card home and i'm crossing my fingers they might cook it up together again soon.

one step, one bite, one new recipe to work into the kitchen mix per week.  a perfect place to bring the 52 new foods cookbook and talk about cooking and eating better together in the food revolution!

the village homesteading mundelein group runs our fremont township community garden and there are a ton of greens and other produce still available and getting sent to our lake county food pantries. since the broccoli, brussel sprout, kale and turnip greens harvest is abundant (and not as popular at the pantries), i get to cook these lovelies up and inspire people to eat them!  

it's my new saturday hangout while chris takes the kids to ymca basketball games all morning (yes, he coaches all three of their teams).  sports + real food = team shifdog.

dakatah, you've cooked up something wonderful for our fair town and i'm thrilled to be gathering with you and the other wonderful vendors and community members to help #growmundelein.   

to the mullies with sauteed greens + bbq

1 T olive oil or coconut oil

1 onion sliced thin

2 garlic cloves sliced thin

1/2+ c vegetable stock

1 lb washed greens (kale, collard, broccoli, brussel sprout, turnip, beet, spinach, rainbow chard...)

splash of apple cider vinegar

sea salt & pepper

BBQ sauce (make your own or buy one like holcomb hollow's with clean ingredients!)

Optional additions:

1 can cannillini or white beans

nitrate/antibiotic free bacon or sausage

tomatoes

mushrooms

sesame seeds (pair with a korean bbq!)

red pepper fakes

honey

be creative and add in your own with gumption!

remove middle stem/rib from greens.  dice stems like celery.  heat oil over medium heat and add ribs + onion.  sauté until onions become translucent and begin to caramelize (5-7 min).  add garlic and sauté for another min until fragrant (add tomatoes and/or mushroom here too.  sauté until juices have released).  add greens + stock + s&p and cover pan.  turn occasionally and cook for 5-15 minutes depending on toughness of greens (kale, collard, broccoli and brussel sprout greens take 5-10 additional minutes to wilt, so add these first before the more tender greens like spinach, chard, beet and turnip).  once all greens are wilted and still vibrant in color, add a splash of apple cider vinegar and stir to incorporate.  season to taste.  adding meat?  cook meat first in pan, then set aside and follow recipe.  need a bean fix?  add last, reduce heat to low, cover and cook for additional 5 minutes. plate with your favorite bbq sauce and dig in.  use local/organic ingredients whenever possible:)

i super love my new mobile cooking toy!!

xoxoL