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Creamy Greens

Written by Published on in Sides, Thanksgiving

This Creamy Greens Recipe is going to walk you through making a delicious side dish that is packed with greens that everyone will love. There is no better way to get your veggies in.

You are going to love these dreamy Creamy Greens. Usually the vegetables on the Thanksgiving table are the exiled as the token healthy side dish, but not these Creamy Greens. These Creamy Greens will have everyone craving more.

We call this recipe Creamy Greens because you can use a multiple amount of greens. Take your pick from spinach, kale or swiss chard. They can all be used as a combination or interchangeably for this recipe. They are mixed in with cheese, which you can substitute mozzarella with any creamy cheese that melts well such as cheddar or gruyere.

The Biggest Tip to Making Creamy Greens

The dish comes together quickly once the frozen spinach is well drained. We cannot stress this enough, it is important to make sure the spinach drains well or the vegetables will be watery and never soak up the flavor of the garlic and cheese. The last thing you want to do, is mess up the creamy garlic cheese sauce. 

Creamy Greens are a perfect Thanksgiving Side Dish. You can make it day of or you can make it a few days ahead. Just make sure if you are making it a couple of days before serving add the cream and cheeses but don’t bring it to a boil. Simply mix everything together and add into a deep baking dish and slowly reheat it the day you are going to serve it. 

This doesn’t just go well with our Thanksgiving turkey, it’s a great side for our Pork Tenderloin, Churrasco, or try it with our Beef Ribs . 

Just try them!

Cream Greens
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Cream Greens

Recipe by Abuelas Cuban CounterCourse: SidesCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy
Servings

8

servings
Prep time

10

minutes
Cooking time

20

minutes

Ingredients

  • 3, 10 oz bags of frozen spinach, completely thawed (you can also use kale or a combination)

  • 6 cloves of garlic, finely minced

  • 1 onion, very thinly sliced

  • 2 tablespoons of olive oil

  • 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter

  • 3 tablespoons of freshly chopped parsley

  • 3 cups of heavy cream

  • ½ cup of shredded parmigiano

  • 1 ½ cups of fresh mozzarella 

  • 1 ¼ cups of frozen peas

  • ¼ teaspoon of red pepper flakes

  • Freshly grated nutmeg

  • Salt and freshly cracked pepper

Directions

  • In a strainer add the thawed spinach. Press down several times so the water comes out. Then place on a dish towel, fold the towel over the spinach and wring the towel so it can absorb any extra liquid. 
  • In a saute pan on medium high, add the butter, oil, onion, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Allow the onions to cook for 5 minutes until they are cooked and slightly golden. 
  • Add the garlic and freshly ground nutmeg and allow it to cook for 3 minutes. Add the spinach. Toss so the garlic and oil coat the spinach. 
  • Add the cream, 2 tablespoons of the parsley, another sprinkling of salt and pepper. Raise heat to high. Stir together and when the cream boils, turn heat to low. 
  • Add the peas and cheeses. Gently mix everything together until it is well combined. Add the remaining parsley. 
  • Keep on very low heat for a few minutes until you are ready to serve. If you notice it drying out add a few more tablespoons of cream or milk.