Garlicky Greens with Chilli & Lemon
Horta, more or less: greens cooked hard and fast in good oil, then flooded with lemon the moment the pan comes off.
Why it works
Sliced garlic started in cold oil warms through gently and turns sweet, where garlic dropped into an already hot pan scorches before the greens have even wilted. The lemon is held back until the heat is off, because acid added to a fierce pan cooks off and goes flat — thirty seconds of patience keeps it bright.
Method
- Put the oil and garlic into a large cold frying pan and set it over a medium heat. Let the garlic come up slowly for about 2 minutes, until it is barely gold at the edges and smells sweet rather than sharp.
- Add the chilli flakes, then the sliced stems, and stir for 1 minute. Turn the heat to high.
- Pile in the leaves with the rinsing water still clinging to them, add the salt, and turn them with tongs for 2 minutes until they have collapsed to a quarter of their volume and gone dark and glossy.
- Take the pan off the heat, squeeze over both lemon halves and turn once more. This is the four minutes your chicken should be resting.
For the toddler
At step 2, before the chilli goes in, lift a spoonful of the garlic and oil into a small pan and wilt a handful of leaves in it with no salt. That is their portion, and it takes the same two minutes. Chop the cooked leaves and stems short before they go on the plate, since long strands are awkward to manage. A little lemon over the top is welcome.
How the toddler notes workChef’s notes
Kale, spring greens, chicory or beetroot tops. Tougher leaves want an extra minute with a lid on the pan.
Bagged spinach needs no stem work and only 90 seconds in the pan, which brings the whole thing down to 5 minutes.
Grilled fish with the skin crisped, roast lamb, or a plate of white beans and feta.
Keeps 3 days chilled. Eat it cold with more lemon and oil, the way a taverna would serve it, or stir it through eggs.