A Quick Dinner (in two parts)....Chinese Broccoli, Steak and Garlic Bread.

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Chinese Broccoli

Time: 15 minutes

1 lb Chinese Broccoli

1 clove garlic minced

2 tablespoons of good dijon mustard

a splash of white wine

salt, pepper, and good olive oil

Like most other vegetables, I’ve made chinese broccoli about 100 different ways. This recipe is especially tangy and creamy (despite having no cream), but it is so simple and fast. First, take your broccoli and chop it into thirds. It is important to keep each third separate, as they have different cooking times. If you cook them all together, the leaves will be too wilted, and the bottom of the stalks will be undercooked.

I prefer to make this dish in a Wok, but any stainless steel or cast iron pan is fine (non-stick is not ideal, but it’ll work). Pour a couple of tablespoons of oil into a preheated pan, when the oil is hot, toss in the thickest third of broccoli. Mix while sauteing over medium-high heat for 5-7 minutes.

Once the stalks begin to soften, toss in the next thickest third of broccoli and the garlic. After 5 minutes, pour in the dijon mustard and season with salt and pepper to taste. Saute for 2 minutes before pouring in the wine. When the alcohol cooks off, toss the rest of the broccoli in. Toss for 1 minute and serve. The stalks should be soft and a little crunchy, and the leaves should just be slightly wilted. The oil, mustard and wine combine into a delicious creamy sauce.

Just a few side notes: First, this basic recipe will work for nearly any saute-able vegetable. Second, despite the fact that I am a vehement hater of Chardonnay, it is perfect in this dish. Any white wine will work, but Chardonnay is commonly very oaky. The oak flavor matches perfectly with the broccoli and the mustard.

This week’s dinner (In 4 Parts)....kale infused with balsamic and garlic; sauteed sweet potatoes; pan seared red snapper with basil spice rub.

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Kale infused with Balsamic and Garlic:

Kale...at first a frightening mess of thick and seemingly indigestible vegetation (dinosaur food)...but in reality it is one of the most versatile and rich leafy green around. This recipe will have you craving it for weeks.

Time: about 30 minutes

Ingredients:

1lb fresh kale*, trimmed (remove any stems that are more than a quarter inch wide, make sure to trim up the entire length of each leaf) and washed.

1 whole clove of roasted garlic, peeled and chopped coarsely. [If you are too lazy you can substitute 1 tablespoon of minced garlic for the roasted garlic in this recipe, but the roasted garlic adds some delicate subtlety]

A simple recipe for roasted garlic: Begin by removing any outer leaves from the garlic clove, place on a piece of foil and put in a 375 degree oven for 30 to 60 minutes...for this recipe, we are going to cook the garlic a second time, so I would suggest roasting it for 40 minutes, it should be soft but maintain it’s structure and shape when pressed with the tip of a knife.

.25 cups of balsamic vinegar (the more the better)

salt, pepper, good olive oil...

First, grab a large pot and fill it about 2/3 with water, add a couple of tablespoons of salt and bring to a rolling boil. Drop in your trimmed and washed kale and boil for about 20 minutes. The kale should be considerably softer, but the structure of the leafs should not be deteriorating. Immediately transfer the kale into a bowl filled with ice water (the ice bath stops the cooking, preventing it from becoming mushy).

Next, empty all excess water from the pot, do not wash it (it has valuable flavor from boiling the kale), put it back onto the stove at a medium high heat. Once the pan is hot, coat the bottom with olive oil. Drain the kale and toss it in to the pan, followed by the garlic and salt and pepper to taste. Saute for 1 minute before pouring the balsamic vinegar into the pan.

Once 75% of the vinegar has cooked off serve immediately. (I like to serve it as is, but a light sprinkling of your favorite strong crumbly cheese can’t do too much harm.)