after the fact.

It's 93 degrees outside, and how do I decide to spend the afternoon? Eating steaming bowlful after bowlful of southern greens in a spicy andouille-infused broth, of course! In the spirit of full disclosure (all bloggers are required to take an oath), and since recent themes in this blog have included Baring of Soul, I will also tell you that after the second bowlful, I disrobed. There was no other way.

Also after the second bowlful, I realized, I HAVE to tell someone about this. I made something good. I could eat this until my 4 pm yoga class. (It was about noon then.) And then I panicked: Who was I going to call first?? second?? third??? And then another, this time, anxiety-quelling, realization: I have a food blog. I can write about this there.

So this is a rare exercise in spontaneity for me. Some of these photos don't have extreme visual appeal, and I can already feel your skepticism. Stop it. Collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens, they are all actually very delicious things. You know, opening your mind a bit wouldn't kill you. Sheesh.

And for those of you for whom 'pungency' is a dirty word, stop it. Pungency gets a really bad rap, but pungency is a natural and beautiful thing. Embrace pungency. And embrace this dish, even if it is really damn hot outside and it makes you sweat like Andre Agassi. It really is delicious.

Southern Greens in a Spicy Andouille-infused Broth

The sun shines on my bowlful of southern greens.

-ingredients-
1 carrot, peeled and finely chopped
1 onion, sliced longitudinally into strips
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 andouille sausages, roughly cut up (if you must know, I cut each sausage longitudinally into 2 halves and then cut each half up into pieces about 1/2-cm thick)
1 lb of collard greens and/or mustard greens and/or turnip greens and/or spinach (the bag of "Southern Greens" I bought at Trader Joe's consisted of a perfect pre-washed blend of all of these)
3 cups low sodium chicken broth (more if "spicy andouille-infused broth" sounds delicious to you; less if it doesn't)
1 tablespoon vinegar (any kind other than balsalmic would be fine)
Hot sauce (I found this to be an appropriate condiment for this dish, but suit yourself if you don't agree)

-preparation-
1. In a large pot, saute the first 3 ingredients with a big pinch of salt in olive oil over medium-high heat for about 3 minutes. Then add the sausage and saute for another 3 minutes.
2. Add the greens to the pot; let the greens wilt down a bit, for about 3 minutes. You will need to keep flipping the greens so that it wilts down at least somewhat evenly.
3. First add 2 cups of chicken broth; flip the greens in the broth for a few minutes. Add the vinegar. Stop and assess. Add more broth if it looks like you could use a bit more.
4. Let the greens cook down for about 5-7 more minutes.
5. Taste; add more salt as desired.











Picture: Guilty as charged.








Picture: Montage of southern greens, baby fern, and industrial vista.










Picture: These leftovers will be very good eaten on the next day that is rainy.