I've actually never cooked beet greens before but I did some research and discovered that one of the easiest ways to prepare beet greens is to sautee them like chard or kale. I figured that a simple way to use sauteed greens is to toss it with spaghetti, which I had readily available at home. But I did need a few more ingredients so I stopped at DeLuca's Market on the way home and picked up some beautifully ripe cherry tomatoes and chicken andouille sausage to add to the pasta dish.
When I got home, I put a pot of water with some generous shakes of salt on the stove. While the water began to heat up to a boil, I prepared the rest of the ingredients. I roughly chopped up four or five small cloves of garlic along with a small yellow onion. B washed and dried the cherry tomatoes and the beet greens. I halved the tomatoes, roughly chopped the beet greens, and sliced two of the pre-cooked chicken andouille sausages.
When the water began to boil, I added a handful of whole wheat spaghetti to the pot. While the pasta began to cook, I heated up a wok with a generous pour of extra virgin olive oil that had been soaking with dried habanero peppers. I like to use this spicy extra virgin olive oil when I toss it with pasta dishes. When the wok was sizzling, I first added the garlic and onions. I also added a bit of salt and fresh cracked black pepper for seasoning. Once the garlic and onions began to sweat, I added the cherry tomatoes and then slowly added the beet greens by the handful and finally the chicken sausage. As a last touch and perhaps an afterthought, I seasoned the wok by adding red pepper flakes and dried thyme. I put a lid on the wok and let the sauce simmer to let all of the good seasoning soak into the olive oil based sauce.
When the pasta was cooked to a perfect al dente, I added the spaghetti to the wok and tossed the pasta with the vegetables and sausage. I also added some grated Parmesan cheese to the hot pan and gave it another toss. Although I didn't get any photos along the way in making this quick dinner, I did snap a quick picture of the pasta before serving.
Overall the dish was really bright and colorful. The entire dish had a nice mellow heat to it. The sauteed cherry tomato juice combined with the sauteed onions, garlic and extra virgin olive oil made a light and pleasant sauce for the pasta. The beet greens had a spinach-like texture although a bit more bitter in taste. But this was a nice flavor in contrast to the sweet tomatoes and the sharp Parmesan cheese. My only regret is that I didn't choose a more herb-flavored chicken sausage, which would have been just as lean but probably a better flavor complement to the pasta than the andouille sausage.
I am loathe to throw out fresh ingredients and I'm glad I decided to give beet greens a try. I'll definitely be cooking them more often as beets have become a regular ingredient in my kitchen. If you have any suggestions on cooking with beet greens, please send them my way! I'd love to hear them.
