beans and greens

It may not win any awards for being pretty, but it’s a hearty, delicious one-pot meal.

Beans and Greens

1 onion, small diced
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 lbs cabbage (or just one small head)
1 quart chicken stock
parmesan cheese rind (optional)
1 lb italian style pork sausage

• Feel free to use sweet, mild, or hot sausage. If you purchase sausage already in casings, just the end of casing and squeeze the sausage filling out of the casing. Turkey sausage would also work, and so would chicken, but you’ll probably have to slice up the chicken sausage, because it normally doesn’t break up like turkey or pork sausage

1 can great northern beans, drained and rinsed
2 cans cannelini beans, drained and rinsed
1 can butter beans, drained and rinsed

• You can use all or just one or two types of white beans; I just like the different sizes and flavors

1 head mustard greens, kale, collard greens, or swiss chard, cut into 1/2″ pieces
2 lbs broccoli (or 3 heads)
2 tbsp butter
salt and pepper

– Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Add onion and garlic
– Cut the cabbage into quarters and remove the core. Julienne cabbage, aka cut into a thin strips and add to the onions and garlic
– Deglaze pot with the chicken stock and cook cabbage for 20 minutes. If you have a parmesan rind add it in now; it’ll slowly melt as it cooks. I normally take it out before I add the greens. If you leave it in remember it’s in there and don’t it
– Add sausage and break up into pieces. Add all of the beans and continue cooking over medium-low or medium heat

• Cooking the sausage in the stock allows all the flavors in the sausage to flavor the cabbage and stock

– While sausage and beans are cooking, cut up the broccoli into florets. Remove the broccoli stem, but rather than just cutting the broccoli into florets from the top, split the broccoli stems, and then pull apart the florets; this creates a lot less mess. Slice up the broccoli stems
– Once sausage is cooked, add the mustard greens and cook until wilted
– Add the broccoli and butter and cook until broccoli is tender, about 10 minutes

• If you’re not going to eat the ragu right away, hold off on adding the broccoli, or add the broccoli, but only cook it over the heat for 5 minutes