Sauteed beet greens, onions, and mushrooms

Last week I picked up some onions and potatoes at the store, and then realized that I really wanted to roast them. So yesterday I drove over to Traverse City's farmer's market and grabbed some beets and turnips to roast with the veggies I already had.

Now, I'm the kind of person who looks at a plant and wonders "Can I eat that?", so when I got back to the house, I decided to cook up some beet greens, even though I'd never attempted (or eaten) them before. Besides, it would be silly to waste something that I could eat instead, especially on an intern's salary.

$4 worth of organic beets

Sautéed Beet Greens
1 onion
1 clove garlic
1/3 cup vegetable stock
Small handful of mushrooms
Pinch of salt
Coconut oil
Greens from about 5 beets

Caramelize onions in a pan. Caramelizing onions is a time-consuming but not overly involved process of cooking down onions until they're translucent and starting to brown. It kills that raw onion taste and brings out the natural sweetness.

Put some coconut oil in a frying pan (use enough to cover the bottom of the pan, then add some more) and heat over medium heat. Chop an onion up into smallish pieces and add them to the pan.

One onion before

Cook for about half an hour, until the onions are browned (or less time, if you're impatient and just want to eat).

Nice caramelized onions

To that pan (I did it in separate pans today, but one will work) add some more coconut oil, and the garlic and mushrooms and salt. Cook that for a while, until the mushrooms are soft. Add in your veggie broth and let it continue to cook while you get the greens ready.

Chop the beet greens into pieces you would be okay with putting in your mouth without cutting, and wash wash wash them until there is no more dirt or grit on them (I learned this the hard way...). Then throw them into the pan and cook until wilted (about 5 minutes). They take a little bit longer to cook than spinach.

It's a lot of greens

I also fried up an egg to put on top, and stole asked very nicely if I could use some of the rice one of my housemates had cooked for his lunch as a base to put my greens on. It made enough for lunch, and leftovers for dinner.

And lunch!

They tasted a bit like spinach, but were physically more substantial than spinach, something you can actually sink your teeth into and have to chew a little bit (but not in a bad way). My rice at the bottom of the bowl actually turned a little bit pink, which was kind of fun!