Christmas Night Greens

Even with the best of intentions, one can easily exceed the legal limit of fat and sugar consumption come the Holidays. Especially when prime rib is in the offing (hey, I DID say that I try to eat healthily but am not a fanatic!) along with scalloped potatoes, goodie plates of cookies, candy ... chocolates ... dishes with cream and butter ... oooh.

After the day of festivities wound down, my CSA braising greens raised their little green voices into a chorus that called to my overtaxed system, offering a restorative, balancing remedy. I could not ignore them.

But I did not want to go the traditional Asian route ... fat, salt and garlic aplenty had been consumed this Christmas Day. So I sauteed them up with water and chopped fresh ginger only. I think the main green was tatsoi, which seems to have a slightly spicier flavor than spinach. The resulting dish had a faint medicinal taste, but bracingly so. It felt so virtuous and healthy that I felt I deserved just one more chocolate truffle as my reward for eating greens.

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CHRISTMAS NIGHT GREENS

Wash and sort braising greens, and saute them over high heat in a skillet in about 1/4 inch water with a tablespoon or so of chopped ginger. Stir and turn constantly until water evaporates, then add more water and keep stirring and turning until the greens are wilted and tender, and the water is gone.

I served these with organic grapefruit, in honor of the whole excess-curbing effort.