Swiss Chard, Beet Greens, Bok Choy with Ginger Butter

This is a simple, delicious way to get some living, green food into your body! For you Athens people, the Athens Farmer's Market, Kroger (Alps and Gaines School), and Earth Fare often have organic beets, bok choy, and red chard. I buy the beets with the prettiest, largest greens, and save the beets for another recipe. Or if you want to, you could roast the beets separately (see below for a how-to), slice them, and serve them on top of the greens, topped with the ginger butter. I really like to go organic with this recipe - the organic greens have a clearer, fresher flavor.

Any combination of: swiss chard, beet greens, and bok choy

A big fat "knob" of fresh ginger (at least 2 Tablespoons peeled and minced)

2-3 Tablespoons salted butter

Stop up your sink, fill it with cool water, and give all of the greens a good rinse (or they'll be gritty!). For swiss chard, cut off any brown end on the stalk of each leaf, and then very coarsely chop the stems and leaves (you can leave them in pretty big pieces). For bok choy, cut off the root end and coarsely chop white stalks and green leaves. For beet greens, remove any tough looking stalks and coarsely chop the leaves.

Put a metal collapsible steamer in a big pot and run some water into the bottom of the pot, but keep the water level below the steamer. Put your greens in the pot, cover, and turn to medium-high heat.

Meanwhile, put the butter into a small microwaveable cup or bowl. Melt the butter, then stir the minced ginger into the butter.

The greens will be done about 5 minutes after the water boils. Test the stalks of the chard and bok choy with a fork to make sure they are just tender. Do not overcook. Use tongs to get the greens out of the pot and onto your plate. Drizzle with the ginger butter (make sure you get some nice little ginger chunks on there). Enjoy! My favorite way to serve this is with grilled or broiled wild salmon and black rice (a whole-grain rice sold at Earth Fare as "Forbidden Rice").

Roasted Beets: Peel beets. If they are large beets, cut them in halves or quarters. Prick with a fork. Put on a piece of foil, and enclose them by folding the edges of the foil together like an envelope. Put the foil on a cookie sheet and roast at 350 for an hour or so. They should be just tender all the way through when pricked with a fork. Be careful not to let the steam burn you when you open the foil!

Ginger Shrimp Stir-Fry

As always with a stir-fry, have all your ingredients ready and prepped before you start to cook.

2 teaspoons peanut oil, or other flavorless vegetable oil

1/2 onion, thinly sliced
4 stalks celery, sliced on the diagonal
1 small can bamboo shoots, rinsed and drained
2-inch piece ginger, peeled and minced

2 pounds raw, peeled shrimp

A drizzle of each of the following:
sherry
sesame oil
chili oil (if you aren't into spicy stuff, go light on this, but it does add an important flavor)
agave nectar (or honey)
soy sauce or tamari (I use wheat-free tamari)

kosher salt

Heat the oil in a big saute pan or wok until it is very hot. Add the onion, celery, bamboo shoots, and ginger. Stir-fry for a couple of minutes, being sure to scrape the ginger up from the bottom of the pan so it doesn't burn. Add the shrimp and stir-fry for a couple more minutes. Remove from heat long enough to drizzle in the sherry, sesame oil, chili oil, agave nectar, and soy sauce. Return to heat and continue to stir-fry until shrimp is cooked (should only be another minute or two). Do not overcook the shrimp or they'll be rubbery instead of tender! Sprinkle in a good pinch or two of kosher salt, give it another stir, and serve immediately.

I like to serve this with steamed broccoli. If you peel your shrimp earlier in the day or the night before, this is pretty quick to make.