Grits and Greens

crispychick's Note:

This is a recipe my aunt has been making for years. I'm not sure where the recipe came from, but it's a southern breakfast to a tee!! It also makes a good side dish for supper.

• Total Time: 12 mins
• Prep Time: 2 mins
• Cook Time: 10 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 8

• 3 cups whole milk
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup quick-cooking grits
• 6 tablespoons butter
• 1 lb spinach or 1 lb collard greens or 1 lb mustard greens (just one or any combination)
• 1 ½ cups freshly grated parmesan cheese
• salt
• fresh ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Combine the milk and the cream in a heavy pan and heat to just under a boil.
2. Stir in the grits and cook 5-10 minutes, stirring often to prevent scorching.
3. Remove from heat.
4. Stir in 2 T of the butter.
5. In the meantime, place the greens, still wet from washing, in a large skillet.
6. Cook them with the rest of the butter over medium heat for about 5 minutes or until thoroughly wilted.
7. Add the greens to the grits.
8. Stir in the parmesan cheese and season with salt and pepper.
9. Can be served as is, or you can pour in a greased casserole dish and top with a little more cheese, then broil.
10. (I suggest the latter).

Reviews

[sugarpea]

I made the grits with skim milk and no butter, added the collard greens right to the hot grits and sprinkled on the parmesan. Tada. This IS supper. Dh added a shake or two of hot sauce.

[Cinizini]

I agree with Roosie, this was an excellent recipe! I cooked the stone ground grits that I have the way that I always do, using 2-percent milk, and then just added the sauteed greens. I subbed kale, a highly ruffly variety, which added a nice texture, and made a half batch. Will definitely make this again, but next time probably on a cooler day (what possessed me to use the broiler on an 84 degree day?) Very tasty, thank you for sharing!

[Roosie]

I thought this would be good... but I didn't know how good! It was terrific. I didn't have any cream on-hand, so I just used 2% milk. I'm used to grits made with water, so it still tasted pretty rich to me. I substituted some of the butter with some bacon grease... yum. I used mustard greens- I halved the recipe, but just used the whole bunch I had, so I would say that was probably more like a pound. I found that ratio to be good, though. This really benefits from a liberal applicaiton of parmesean. BF thought this was kind of bland until I convinced him to let me grate some extra parm on top- then he thought it was really tasty! We had this with biscuits and gravy for a Southern breakfast-style supper. It was great. I think that this tastes great- I was surprised at how well the greens and grits pair! Next time (and there will be a next time!) I might try adding a slice or two of bacon or experimenting with using other types of cheese (like cheddar, maybe?). Just delicious- I was very impressed with both the texture (the combination of the greens and the creamy grits...mmm) and the flavor. Thanks! This was awesome!