Southern Style Mustard Greens have a nice peppery flavor and are a great side item with any kind of Southern cooking or Soul Food. I love the mustard greens with a splash of spicy vinegar or hot sauce on them. The mild mustard flavor of the greens is great with a lot of southern-style meals and recipes. I particularly love this mustard greens recipe as a side with a pot of beans and cornbread.
The leaves of the mustard greens are huge, and they have a large fibrous stem. The stem has a texture identical to celery and a very mild flavor. Although many cooks discard the stem, I like to dice it and cook it the same way you would cook celery. Using the stem in the mustard greens recipe is optional. However, I can’t see throwing away that much food, waste not, want not.
Southern cooking doesn’t get much better than a pot of simmering mustard greens. Add a smoky ham hock, turkey leg, or bacon in the mix for great flavor and protein. Hit these delicious mustard greens with a little spicy vinegar or hot sauce at the end and they are pure Soul Food Heaven. Since I am serving this with my Good Luck Black Eyed Peas today, I am using smoky bacon in the mustard greens. The black-eyed peas have smoked turkey legs in them. If you don’t eat pork, this recipe is great with smoked turkey.
This mustard greens recipe with black-eyed peas and cornbread.
Southern Style Mustard Greens Ingredients
- Mustard Greens: Mustard greens are from the plant the produces the mustard seed. Part of the Brassica family the leaves are large flat leaves with a heavy fibrous stem the texture similar to celery. Both the leaves and stem are edible. However, for my mustard greens recipe, the stem should be cut into small dice and cooked for a longer period of time. The way you would cook celery.
- Bacon: I brown the bacon and set it aside, using the bacon grease to sauté the onions, garlic, and stems from the mustard greens. I leave the crispy bacon on the side to sprinkle on top of this mustard greens recipe as a garnish.
- Onions, Garlic, and Mustard Green Stems: Diced and sautéed until soft, these add great flavor to this mustard greens recipe. The stems are optional, but I like them and think they add green flavor and texture to the recipe.
- Brown Mustard and Vinegar: The mustard greens have a delicate mustard flavor. The brown mustard and vinegar reinforce this flavor and give it a nice peppery kick.
- Seasonings: Salt and Red Pepper Flakes. Nothing fancy as far as the seasonings go in this recipe, but the red pepper flakes give the greens a nice kick from the heat.
Here is my recipe for Southern Style Mustard Greens
Southern Style Mustard Greens
Ingredients
- 1/2 Pound Bacon 1/2-inch dice, crispy
- 2 Tablespoons Bacon Grease
- 2 Bunches Mustard Greens Stems, 1/4-inch dice. Greens large rough chopped
- 2 Tablespoons Brown Mustard
- 1 Cup Onion 1/4-inch dice
- 2 Teaspoons Garlic Crushed and chopped
- 1 Teaspoon Salt
- 1/2 Teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
- 2 Tablespoons White Wine Vinegar
Garnish
- Trappy's Spicy Vinegar
Instructions
- In a large covered pot, fry the bacon until crisp. Set the bacon aside and discard all but 2-tablespoons of bacon grease.
- Sauté the onions and the diced mustard green stems in the bacon grease until softened. Then add the garlic and sauté for 1 minute.
- Rinse the greens well and add the wet greens to the pot. Add all remaining ingredients and cover, steam until the greens are wilted.
Nutrition
I love using the mustard greens stems in this recipe, they taste like peppery-flavored celery.
