With some sweet red onion, cooked chickpeas, and a reduced balsamic dressing, mustard greens quickly become a complete, light meal.
If necessity is the mother of invention, hunger is the mother of new recipes. Well, hunger, laziness, and a sadly depleted refrigerator.
On a recent Sunday, I was out of everything I would normally eat for lunch–no lettuce, no spinach, no cabbage, nothing fresh and green and salad-worthy. I was also sadly lacking the desire to run to the store to get any of these items because that would take a lazy Sunday and turn it into a shopping Sunday, and who wants that? So I checked to see what green vegetables I did have in the house and found only mustard greens.
Mustard greens. Until recently I thought I didn’t like them. Just the name “mustard” convinced me, erroneously I now see, that these greens were more bitter than collards and turnips (which, truth be told, I only started liking within the past five years). But a few months ago, my mother persuaded me to give them a chance. She described them, her personal favorite green, as milder than collards.
And she was right. More peppery than other greens–they get that from their mustard lineage–they lack the somewhat cabbagey taste of collards. I find they cook more quickly than collards, too, which made them perfect for a quick-fix lunch for two on a slow, summer Sunday. With some sweet red onion, cooked chickpeas, and a reduced balsamic dressing, they quickly became a complete, light meal.
Check out all of my greens recipes for more nutritious dishes!
Balsamic-Glazed Chickpeas and Mustard Greens
Ingredients
- 10 ounces mustard greens
- 1/2 large red onion , thinly sliced
- 4-6 tablespoons vegetable broth , divided
- 4 cloves garlic , chopped
- 1 pinch red pepper flakes
- 1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1/4 teaspoon agave nectar or sugar
- 1 cup cooked chickpeas , rinsed and drained
Instructions
- Remove any large stems from the greens and discard. Tear the leaves into bite-sized pieces.
- In a deep pot or wok, sauté the onion in a tablespoon or two of vegetable broth until mostly faded to pink, about 4 minutes. Add the chopped garlic and red pepper and another tablespoon of broth and cook, stirring, for another minute. Add the mustard greens, 2 tablespoons of broth, and cook, stirring, until greens are wilted but still bright green, about 3-5 minutes. Stir in the salt, if using. Remove greens and onions from pan with a slotted spoon and place in a serving dish, leaving any liquid in pan.
- Add the balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, and agave or sugar to the liquid in the pan (if there is no liquid, add 2 tablespoons of broth). Add the chickpeas and cook, stirring, over medium heat until the liquid is reduced by about half. Spoon the chickpeas over the greens and drizzle the sauce over all.
- Serve warm, with additional balsamic vinegar at the table.
Notes
Nutritional info is approximate.
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Andrea F.
Simply amazing! Thanks for the great recipes, Susan! You are making my switch to E2L so much easier!
Pragati Coder
I tried this recipe today!! Loved it!! Only modification was to use honey in place of Agave and to add a tbsp of vegetarian oyster sauce for some extra sweetness and flavor!! I did a blog post about it and credited your recipe for the inspiration. here’s a link to that post! Thanks again!! http://rugratchow.blogspot.com/2013/05/mustard-greens-w-balsamic-glazed-chick.html
Barbara Benedict
I made the chickpeas/mustard greens with balsamic vinegar last night and they were delicious! Thanks!
mabidavid
I’d been wondering what to do with my mustard greens. This was so good! Thank you!
Carrie
I don’t use sugar or agave, would maple syrup work as a substitute?
Susan Voisin
Yes, virtually any type of sugar will work, or you could probably leave it out since it’s such a tiny amount.
Kath (My Funny Little Life)
These look incredibly nice! 😀
Lynn
I loved this recipe. What’s even better is my family loved it. I’ve never cooked mustard greens before so I wasn’t quite sure what to do with them. I was also uncertain about the veggie broth instead of oil but it was fabulous and no FAT!
DC
Just made this recipe today, though I did substitute collards for the mustard greens since that’s what I had on hand.
OMG, this is delicious. I was looking for a new way to prepare chickpeas (which I love), and I’m trying to eat more greens, so this recipe was perfect for me. 🙂
Other than the greens, didn’t change a thing. And I’m making it again tomorrow! It’s that good.
Shez
I just made the chickpeas and added them to Earthbound’s Power Greens, raw onion and sauted mushroom. It was absolutely delicious. Thanks for the recipe. I can’t wait to try it with mustard greens
NekkidRevenge
For some strange reason, I never tried mustard greens. My only experience with a lot of greens in general, was from cans when I was a kid. So though, I eat a lot of fresh veggies and am always trying to explore my way to things I haven’t tried, I had turnip and collards plenty of times and loved those… I pretty much love any greens that I can eat cold, as a wrap, or if I want a lovely wilted salad. Anyway, I bought a bunch of fresh kale, asperigus, and mustard greens. I just prepping to make a vegan spinach, asperigus, and artichoke dip that I could get normal people to eat, and I randomly grabbed a handful of mustard greens to no on…. I was so caught off guard… I know they are called “mustard” greens but I was so not expecting such a strong flavor! O_O I liked it though and since I’ve added dijon to plenty of dips and sauces, I snuck in some mustard greens and kale and…. it was amazing! I also had a similar experience trying swiss chard and somehow immediately decided to make it into a balsamic portabello mushroom burger with some spinach and steamed mashed cauliflower to bind. It was sooooo good!
Leslie
This dish was delicious. My omni housemate loved it! I used a whole bunch of mustard greens and a whole can of chickpeas. Plus I added a little more crushed red pepper and some black pepper. What a great dish to use the mustard greens I got from a friend’s CSA box. Thank you!
Krista Wilson
I would love to try this… it looks delicious but does it really have 1081 mg of sodium or is that a typo. The only thing that I can see that would have high sodium is the soy sauce.
Susan Voisin
I think it’s probably a miscalculation or a typo. Soy sauce and the optional salt do have a high amount of sodium, but probably not THAT much. I’ll run it through my recipe software again as soon as I’m back at my desk and update it if necessary.
Bob
Yum
Kelli
I found this recipe after my first purchase of fresh mustard greens and the realization I had no idea what to do with them. It was delicious and will become a regular meal in my home. Thank you for sharing your recipe!
Angela
This was amazing! My husband grabbed mustard greens on accident thinking they were kale. He does not like spicy greens so I wondered how I would use these. I can’t wait to make the second batch now! 🙏🏻
Carly Anderson
We are part of a farm share for the first time and got mustard greens this week. I’ve never made them before and am so happy I stumbled across this recipe. It was easy to make and so delicious! Thank you!!
Lynda
Delicious!! Second time to make it in a week.
KP
Hello!
Can this recipie be frozen once made?
Thanks so much!
Susan Voisin
I’m really not sure.
Alexandra
Easy and good. and pretty.
Brigitte
I trimmed all the stems set them aside diced and sautéed with the onions , so they don’t go to waste , I added two diced carrots, I sautéed everything in my wok and used another small sautéed pan to do the chickpeas when they were ready I mixed everything so the seasoning blends in with the leaves , I didn’t add the salt I thought with the chickpeas being salted and soy that was plenty , in all it’s a good recipe easily adaptable to any vegetables you want to add , I also used extra virgin olive oil to sautéed the onions and stems adding broth after .