Bags full of braising greens came in our vegetable CSA during the first several weeks of delivery. I used a lot of them in our lunch salads but decided to do something different with the latest bunch we received.
Braising greens are great raw, but because they’re so dense and fibrous, sometimes they’re better when lightly cooked.
Steaming your greens is a great way to break them down a little without overcooking them. I used that same principle here when I added them to the skillet as the last ingredient.
Your Choice Of Potato
If you signed up for a CSA, you may be getting potatoes in your box, depending on the farm it’s coming from.
Potatoes can certainly be included as part of a paleo diet, especially if you’ve gone extremely low carb and you’re looking to reintroduce starchy vegetables. If you’re introducing more white potatoes into your diet, be sure to choose organic white potatoes.
But, you’ll find most Paleo peeps prefer sweet potatoes and all their varieties. They’re not as starchy and they’re high in fiber, which makes them a slow carb. They won’t cause the spike in blood sugar you’ll get from eating white potatoes.
Yams Versus Sweet Potatoes
Despite faulty grocery store labeling, yams and sweet potatoes are not different names for the same plant. Most of the tubers labeled as “yams” in our grocery stores are really sweet potatoes.
True yams can usually be found in African or Caribbean markets, so if you’re lucky enough to have one of those near you, try exploring their shelves to see if you can find something you’ve never tried before.
If you can’t get your hands on a true yam, don’t sweat it. Despite the many different varieties of yams and sweet potatoes out there, they can all be cooked in pretty much the same manner.
With about an hour in the oven (or a few minutes in the microwave, if you’re short on time). Either way will yield a soft, sweet tuber that goes really well with some ground beef and braising greens.
What Are Braising Greens?
Braising greens are a mix of dark leafy greens that include kale, chard, collards, mustard greens, bok choy, radicchio, and turnip greens.
So if you don’t have a braising greens at your disposal like we did, a good combination of one to three of those will do just fine. I’d recommend kale, green or rainbow chard and collard or mustard greens if you were looking for a recommendation. :)
