Omaha forgot one Sunday recently to place our orders for grocery deliveries, so we ended up with whatever odd things the organic delivery service happened to have on hand. Among our blessing: sweet onions, chard, butternut squash, parsnips and collards. I decided to tackle the collards first, and my weapon of choice: maple syrup. And when you've got maple syrup, your next thought has to be... bacon! I made Chicken with Maple Mustard marinade, and Collard Greens with Maple Syrup and Bacon, and a bog-standard rice pilaf.

Maple Mustard Chicken:

1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 tbs Dijon mustard
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbs vegetable oil
1 pound chicken breasts, skinless and boneless

Mix all the liquids into a sauce. Marinate the chicken for 30 minutes with the sauce in a plastic bag, then toss onto a medium-high grill pan and cook for 3 to 5 minutes on a side. When I turned the chicken, I just drizzled all of the sauce onto the bird, brought to a fast simmer and covered to keep the steam in. Made it juicier. (I've become a big fan of the "heat is an ingredient like salt: learn to use it well" school of cooking.)

Maple & Bacon Collard Greens:

1.25 pounds collard greens.
1 tablespoon water
3 slices bacon
1 chopped onion
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon maple syrup
2/3 cup low-sodium chicken broth

Start cooking the bacon in a frying pan that has a lid. Don't cover.

Trim collard greens and put them with 1 tbsp water into a microwave-safe dish with a cover, and microwave on high for five minutes to wilt.

Remove bacon and let cool. If the bacon wasn't very fatty, add enough olive oil for the next step: saute the onion until glassy, about two minutes. Add the wilted leaves, vinegar, syrup and broth to the pan, bring to a simmer, cover and leave for about half an hour. Crumble the bacon and add. Serve immediately.

It was all very, very delicious. But wait 'til you hear what I did with the chard.

Tags: food, recipe
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