The pleasantly sharp flavor of mustard greens is tempered with sweet red onions and the fruity flavors of apple and orange. Citrus-braised mustard greens, embellished with fresh apple and pine nuts or almonds, is a great fall and winter side dish. It goes with just about any kind of meal.
Mustard greens are leafy green vegetables with a bite that mellows with brief cooking. It looks somewhat like romaine lettuce and has soft, sliceable stems. For this recipe, you can use the domestic or Chinese variety of mustard greens.
Escarole swap-in: Like mustard greens, escarole is another leafy green (from a different vegetable family) with a pleasant bite that mellows with cooking. Feel free to swap in a head of escarole for the mustards greens, prepped the same way.
Ingredients for Citrus-Braised Mustard Greens
- Pine nuts or slivered almonds (you’ll need 1/3 cup)
- Red onion (1 large)
- Apples (2, a sweet, crisp variety)
- Mustard greens (1 head; domestic or Chinese)
- Orange (1 large or 2 medium, preferably organic)
From the pantry
- Olive oil
- Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
About mustard greens
Mustard greens are a leafy green vegetable that are members of the brassica family, the group of vegetables that includes cabbage, broccoli, kale, and cauliflower.
The flavor of mustard greens has been described as pungent or peppery; it’s also occasionally characterized it as sharp, like horseradish. Like many greens that have a bite to them, mustard greens mellow quite a bit when lightly cooked.
Something that make mustard greens easy to work with is that they don’t need to be stemmed. The stem is just a bit crunchier (in a good way) than the leaves. After trimming away the stem, the remaining leaf and stem can be chopped together, just like you would the leaves of romaine lettuce.
Mustard greens qualify as a powerhouse vegetable. They’re a superb source of Vitamins C and K, and the mineral copper. They also provide a modest yet noteworthy amount of the B vitamins and several other minerals. Here’s the complete nutritional profile of mustard greens.
Learn lots more in our Guide to Mustard Greens.
Recipe is from Wild About Greens by Nava Atlas. Photos by Hannah Kaminsky, BittersweetBlog.com.
Explore more …
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- Indian-Inspired Mustard Greens with Spinach
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- Braised Mustard Greens with Mushrooms
Citrus-Braised Mustard Greens with Apples & Nuts
The pleasantly sharp flavor of mustard greens is tempered with sweet red onions and the fruity flavors of apple and orange.
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup pine nuts or slivered almonds
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 large red onion, quartered and thinly sliced
- 2 medium crisp, sweet apples, peeled and thinly sliced
- 1 head mustard greens (domestic or Chinese), cut into narrow ribbons and well rinsed
- 1/4 to 1/3 cup orange juice, from 1 or 2 fresh and preferably organic oranges
- 2 tablespoons orange zest (from the orange)
- Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat a large skillet or stir-fry pan. Toast the pine nuts or almonds on medium-low heat until golden brown. Stir often and watch carefully! Remove to a small bowl and set aside until needed.
- Heat the oil in the same pan. Add the onion and sauté over medium-low heat until golden.
- Add the apple and continue to sauté until slightly softened, about 3 minutes.
- Add the mustard greens in batches, then drizzle in the orange juice. Cover and cook just until the greens wilt down, then turn the heat up to medium-high. Cook, stirring frequently, until the greens are tender-crisp, no longer than 5 minutes.
- Stir in the orange zest, then season with salt and pepper. Stir in the nuts and serve at once.
Notes
Swap in a head of escarole for the mustard greens; exact same prep.
Here are lots more plant-rich salads & side dishes.
Have the lovely and useful book that features this recipe. Have made this recipe more than once. Chef friends have shared with me, over the years, that home cooks don’t usually include enough ‘acid’ in recipes. This recipe of yours counters that assertion. Thank you!
Thanks so much, Gina! Also, I really like mustard greens but don’t find them locally often enough. Sometimes I swap in escarole, which yields similar results.