QUICK-BRAISE

Best For: Green, Red, and Savoy Cabbage
Why Use It: Cooking boodle in a humble total of flavorful fluent preserves its bite. This method acting besides creates a season exchange with the cooking melted and builds complexity. Adding butter to the fluid deepens cabbage season and improves texture .
Basic Method: Melt 2 tablespoons butter in Dutch oven ; add 1 pound thinly sliced cabbage and 1/2 cup braising liquid. Simmer, covered, until pilfer is wilted, about 9 minutes .
NINE IS THE MAGIC NUMBER: Cabbage notoriously gives off an unpleasant olfactory property when it cooks due to the breakdown of the leaves ’ cell walls, which releases sulfur-bearing relish compounds. The key to minimizing that smell is all in the clock : We ’ ve found that about nine minutes of braising is merely long enough to tenderize the hardy leaves but brief enough to avoid producing an surfeit of sultry smell.

STIR-FRY

Best For: Bok Choy and Napa and Savoy Cabbage
Why Use It: Stir-frying over high heat lightly browns the greens, enhancing relish while preserving some crunch .
Basic Method: Heat vegetable oil in nonstick frying pan ( preferred to wok when cooking on flat-topped burner ) over high heat. If using bok choy or chinese cabbage cabbage, add chopped stalks and cook concisely. Add aromatics and cook briefly, then add 1 1/2 pounds thinly sliced leaves and cook until tender, approximately 1 minute .
GIVE STALKS A HEAD START: Unlike many other greens, bok choy and chinese cabbage boodle hold both comestible stalks and edible leaves. We add the rigid stalks to the pan inaugural, cooking them until crisp-tender and equitable starting to brown before adding the more delicate leaves .

PAN-STEAM

Best For: Kale, Collards, and Mustard and Turnip Greens  
Why Use It: Pan-steaming promptly wilts assertive greens while preserving some of their barbed flavor and hearty texture.  

Basic Method: Heat garlic in olive oil in Dutch oven over medium heat. Add 2 pounds muffle chopped greens ( lots of water should inactive cling to leaves ), cover pan, and cook until wilted, about 7 to 9 minutes for kale and turnip and mustard greens and 9 to 12 minutes for collards .

SLOW-BRAISE

Best For: Kale, Collards, and Mustard and Turnip Greens
Why Use It: This one-pot method slow-cooks assertive greens in a little measure of melted. The long cooking mellows the resentment of the greens more than pan-steaming and yields a more tender texture. To ensure that the greens don ’ thyroxine taste watery, we increase the heat at the end of cooking to evaporate overindulgence liquid .
Basic Method: Cook onions in anoint in Dutch oven until softened. Add 2 pounds dampen chopped greens and fudge until beginning to wilt. Add 2 cups braising liquid, screen, and cook over medium-low heat until tender, 25 to 35 minutes for kale and turnip and mustard greens and 35 to 45 minutes for collards. Uncover, increase heat to medium-high, and cook until potentiometer is about dry .

SAUTÉ

Best For: Mature Spinach, Swiss Chard, and Beet Greens
Why Use It: The relatively high heat cooks down medium-tender, high-moisture greens before they have a chance to get doughy.

Basic Method: Heat garlic in vegetable oil in Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add 2 pounds damp greens and fudge, tossing with tongs, until wilted, about 2 minutes for spinach and 5 minutes for Swiss chard and beet greens .
QUICK SQUEEZE: While sautéing evaporates most of the greens ’ moisture, we like to transfer hot greens to a colander in the slump and gently press them against the side to remove any excess water before serving .
PARCOOK BABY SPINACH, Then Sauté: Sautéing baby spinach normally results in a watery batch. Our solution : Wilt this identical delicate green in the microwave on high exponent for three to four minutes with 1 tablespoon of water per 6-ounce bulge. Parcooking softens the leaves so moisture can be removed. Press the wilt leaves against the sides of a colander to squeeze out moisture ; chop and press again. then proceed with sautéing .