Collard Greens and Spring Onions in Soy Sauce

The collards and spring onions at the farmer's market here are and have been absolutely beautiful for months now, and I usually pick up some of both each week. This leads to the good-problem-to-have situation of needing to innovate within the delicious-green genre. Potluck the other week was a tofu stir-fry with Sriracha and soy, so I decided to make something that would complement that well, and this was a big, big success.

Ingredients:

• One bunch collard greens
• 4 large spring onions (with big bulbs), or about twice/three times that many skinny spring onions
• medium-heat oil of choice
• a bit of sesame oil
• 1 tbs. chili garlic sauce
• sherry/marsala/similar sweet cooking wine
• rice vinegar
• soy sauce

Procedure:

1. Set large pot of water to boiling, and boil collards for five minutes
2. Remove collards from water and slice off stems; chop collard leaves and set aside
3. Return stems to water and cook down into delicious broth – use for other dishes, freeze for later, etc.
4. Separate spring onions into bulb section and stem section; slice stems cross-wise and set aside, mince bulbs finely
5. Heat oil, mixed, in large pan or wok over medium; add minced onion bulbs
6. When onions begin to soften, add soy sauce and mix thoroughly; cook for 1-2 minutes
7. Add chili garlic sauce and rice vinegar and mix thoroughly; cook for 1-2 minutes, mixture should be a bit sludgy at this point
8. Add cooking wine to taste, cover and cook down until about half of liquid is gone
9. Add collards, mix thoroughly, adding more cooking wine if necessary; cover again and cook for 3-5 minutes
10. Uncover and add sliced spring onion stems, mixing and cooking for only about a minute
11. Serve and enjoy!

Verdict:

Universally a hit. Just super-tasty, a bit of heat but not too much (this can obviously be modulated in either direction to taste), and a good compliment to a wide range of dishes. Very healthy and vegan to boot!