Recipe

So today is a second feast day, it being the weekend, and Independence Day to boot.

Weight this morning @ 244 lbs. That's 10 lbs lost in a week. Pretty cool.

We never made it to the big party yesterday, so I easily avoided all the temptations that were sure to be on hand. Instead, we opted for a quiet weekend at home and ended up ordering a pizza and wings. An All-American couch-potato weekend! Haha! I was happy to discover that after 6 wings and a slice, I was friggin' full. A month ago, I could've eaten twice that before even thinking about stopping. So I'm thinking my stomach has already shrunk some? Dunno. All I know is that it seems to take less food nowadays for me to feel satiated.

I also got to thinking that maybe I'll start posting recipes. After all, the word 'Diet' in the title of this blog could also refer to what I'm currently eating as well as the intended meaning of modifying my eating habits to a healthier perspective. Plus, I love to cook, so why the hell not? And it'll gimme a reason to try and dress this place up with some pictures.

Quick blanch some diced salt pork.

Then drain, rinse, and brown it on medium heat to render the fat.

Chuck in a sliced medium onion. Reduce heat to med-low and sweat that onion down.

Meanwhile, Take a bunch or three of greens. Here I have 2 kinds of collards and some beet greens. (I actually used the 2 bunches of collards, 2 bunches of beet greens, and a 2 handfuls of chopped kale I had left over from the zero-point soup I made the other day.)

Mixed greens all washed and ready to go in the pan. Yes this will all fit. Trust me.

Here's the SP & onion all sweated down and full o' flavor.

And the first half of the greens go right on top. Add ~1/2 cup of veggie stock (I use the stuff from a jar you reconstitute in water,) cover the pan, and turn the heat up to high.

After a minute or two, uncover and toss the greens around a bit. See how much they wilted? Chuck in the second half and repeat.

Again, after a few minutes, they will have wilted down nicely. Toss around some more to help reduce the liquid a bit. Add a bay leaf, reduce heat to low, partially cover, and let braise for about 40 minutes.

Then return the heat to med-high and add a splash of cider vinegar, a few teaspoons of sugar, and a healthy grind of black pepper. Another quick toss around to combine flavors and reduce the liquid, and you end up with:

Braised Mixed Greens

Crazily delicious. Up until about a year or so ago, I would've turned up my nose. My Dad used to make collard greens every now and then, and I remember them as always bitter and slimy. I didn't touch greens for close the 20 years because all I remembered were Dad's. Then I tried some at a BBQ joint and they were a revelation. Now, I try to make them at least once every few weeks. Luckily, the CSA I belong to has been harvesting collard, kale and beet greens the last few weeks, so I've made braised greens twice in the last month.