Frugal Cooking: Mustard Greens + Bacon = Yum!

Yesterday I made this year’s first trip to the local farmers’ market.  It’s a small, neighborhood market, so unfortunately the produce pickings were slim.  It’s still the early season for produce in Oregon, but the market also had only one real produce vendor (out of 15-20 total vendors).  That vendor had asparagus, kale, mustard greens, spinach, cilantro, radishes, rhubarb, potatoes, and onions. I got asparagus and mustard greens. We already have potatoes and onions, no one else likes kale, and I hate washing spinach. Yes, I buy the pre-washed spinach in a plastic bag.  Sorry!

I knew I’d better use those greens right away; otherwise, I’m likely to let them rot in the fridge. I also had half a pound of bacon in the freezer, so…bacon and mustard greens for dinner!  We had a large noon meal today, so this dish plus bread and butter was plenty for us.

I made this with just one bunch of mustard greens, but one bunch cooked down is not much, so I’m doubling it to two bunches for the recipe.  Of course, the size of your bunch may vary, and you could use any type of greens.

Mustard Greens with Bacon and Onions

2 bunches mustard greens
1/2 pound bacon
1 onion (I used brown, red is probably good too)
1 tablespoon vinegar (I used rice vinegar, but whatever)
1 tablespoon brown sugar

Wash greens and tear into small pieces.  Place in a large (3-4 quart) pot and cover with water.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer.

Meanwhile, put all of the bacon in a large frying pan (I use cast iron) over medium-high heat.  I used the swirl method of cooking bacon, which means you don’t have to muck around with laying out the slices and flipping them over. You just separate the slices and throw them all in the pan and stir frequently until cooked.

Remove bacon and set aside (crumble when you get a chance).  Chop the onion and cook in the bacon fat until it starts to brown.  Remove pan from heat. Add vinegar and brown sugar to onion and bacon fat and mix thoroughly.

Drain greens in a colander, pressing to remove additional water.  Toss with onion mixture and crumbled bacon.