Wilted beet greens with garlic

This small serving of wilted beet greens is a wonderful pick-me-up of delightful flavours. The quantities are only roughly provided since each bunch of whole beet greens will yield a different measure of chopped beet greens. 

Wilted beet greens with garlic

                                                                                  Yield: 1 serving

Ingredients:

1 bunch of beet greens, about 6 - 8 whole leaves with stalks

1 large or 2 small cloves of garlic, minced

1 teaspoon ghee (clarified butter)*

1 lemon wedge

Freshly ground black pepper and sea salt, if desired

Preparation:

Beet leaves, washed and spun

1.  Sever the stalks and leaves from one or more beet roots. cut away the stalks and retain the beet greens. Wash the leaves, rinse, and spin them out in a vegetable spinner to remove as much water as possible.

Beet greens, sliced

2. Slice the leaves crosswise, to produce strips about 2 cm. (¾ in.) wide.

Garlic, minced, sauteing in ghee

3.  In a saute pan, heat the ghee to bubbling over high heat. Add minced garlic. Stir and cook until the garlic releases its fragrance. 

4. Add the beet greens. Stir or toss with two forks and cook for about 2 minutes, until the leaves are wilted.

5. Remove from heat.Turn out into a small dish together with lemon wedge. Grind sea salt and black pepper over the mixture, if desired.

* Ghee is clarified butter, i.e., butter from which milk residue has been removed. Yes, it is saturated fat but that is okay. Saturated fat is acceptable so long as you don't overdo it. The maximum intake of saturated fats (on average) should not exceed 7% of your daily calorie intake which, for an average woman, is approximately 2000 calories. That equals approximately 16 grams of saturated fat. One tablespoon of butter equals  7 grams of saturated fat; therefore, one teaspoon of ghee is well within the bounds of safety. In addition, should you choose to saute a larger quantity of beet greens than indicated in this recipe, they can still be wilted in the same single teaspoon of ghee. Or you can reduce the amount of ghee to, perhaps, half a teaspoon. As always, the choice is yours.