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a bowl of cooking greens with bacon and feta
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5 from 4 votes

Cooking Greens with Bacon and Feta

It's easy to eat your dark leafy greens when they're as incredibly savory and delicious as these cooking greens with bacon and feta. They make an equally irresistible side dish or simple lunch.
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Total Time30 minutes
Course: Sides
Cuisine: American
Keyword: cooking greens
Calories: 340kcal
Author: Carolyn Gratzer Cope

Ingredients

  • 1 pound (454 grams) cooking greens
  • 4 ounces (113 grams) thick bacon
  • 8 cloves garlic chopped
  • ½ cup chicken or vegetable broth see note
  • ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons (30 ml) apple cider vinegar
  • 2 ounces (57 grams) feta cheese

Instructions

  • Wash the greens and dry thoroughly.
  • Strip the greens from their stems and tear into large bite-size pieces. If the stems are tender (yes for beets, chard, dandelion, mustard, etc. / no for kale and collards), chop them into 1-inch segments.
  • Start with a skillet that is wide enough to embarrass you at the thought of using it to cook lunch for one.
  • Heat it on the stovetop over medium-high heat.
  • Chop the bacon into 1-inch pieces and add to the heated skillet.
  • Cook, stirring occasionally, until the bacon is just shy of as crisp as you would like it and has given off plenty of fat. If there is more than about two tablespoons of fat in the pan, remove the rest.
  • If you will be cooking your stems, add them to the skillet now, along with the garlic. If not, just add the garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, for two minutes.
  • Add the greens to the skillet and stir (preferably with tongs) to coat all the greens with a bit of bacon fat.
  • Cook uncovered for a few minutes, then add the broth, salt, and pepper.
  • Cover, lower the heat to maintain a simmer, and cook to desired tenderness, 5-15 minutes depending on which greens you've used.
  • Stir in the vinegar and cook, stirring, one minute more.
  • Transfer greens to a serving bowl and crumble the feta cheese overtop.
  • Give it a gentle stir to distribute if you like, and serve.

Notes

  1. "Cooking greens" means basically any dark, leafy greens that stand up well to cooking. The term encompasses kale, collards, mustard greens, turnip greens, beet greens, dandelion greens, spinach, kohlrabi greens, leafy varieties of broccoli rabe, and chard, among others. You can use this recipe with any of those greens, or a combination.
  2. You'll want nice thick, meaty bacon for this recipe. You can buy slab bacon or, like I usually do, bacon that's sold sliced about ¼-inch thick. Either way, cut it into small bite-sized pieces.
  3. You can use any kind of feta that you like. Truth be told, I almost always gravitate toward the enormous blocks of tangy, mild-tasting cow's milk feta sold in plastic tubs at Whole Foods.
  4. I use lots of fresh garlic, which pairs brilliantly with dark leafy greens. You can adjust it according to your preference.
  5. This recipe will keep well in an airtight container in the fridge for a week and can be reheated in the microwave. If you're making it ahead on purpose, consider mixing in the feta right before serving — but leftovers will be great even if the reheated feta melts in a bit.

Nutrition

Calories: 340kcal | Carbohydrates: 18.1g | Protein: 22.9g | Fat: 20.6g | Fiber: 11.4g