Blanching greens is a great way to preserve excess food coming out of your garden, or it can be useful for some recipes that use a lot of greens but require a smoother, less 'raw' flavour. The process also removes excess water stored in the leaves. You can use this method for any type of greens.

Ingredients

Raw Spinach, Kale, or other greens

Instructions 

Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. The pot should be filled about 3/4 full of water. You want lots of space in the pot for the leaves to circulate in the hot water.

While the water is coming to temp, wash your greens if they are dirty and chop them into rough pieces. You can remove tough kale ribs if you'd like but it's not necessary. 

Prepare a large bowl with very cold water. You can use ice cubes in it if you'd like. Place it right next to your pot of boiling water.

Place a colander in your sink and have a few clean hand towels ready.

Once the water is fully boiling, add a few large handfuls of your prepared greens to the boiling water, stirring immediately. The greens will shrink once they hit the hot water, so add enough to fill the pot but not too many because you want the water to circulate evenly around the greens.

Stirring constantly, cook for about 3 minutes, or until the leaves turn bright green and have just barely been cooked. Cooking time will vary based on the size and density of your leaves, so observe closely. Overcooked greens will start to disintegrate in the water.

Once cooked, use a tongs to quickly transfer the blanched greens into your bowl of ice cold water. The purpose of the cold dunk is to stop the cooking of the greens. 

Once cooled down, use the tongs to transfer the greens to the colander. Drain  as much as possible, then transfer the greens to a clean dish towel and wring out as much liquid as you can. Once wrung out and cooled, the greens are ready to be used or frozen. 

To get ready for the next round of blanching, bring the pot back to a rolling boil, fill your large bowl with fresh ice-cold water, and repeat the process until all of your greens are blanched. 

If you are freezing, it is helpful to freeze in portions. You can do this by measuring out 100 gram balls or a size you think you will use, squeezing it into a ball, placing on a parchment-lined  baking sheet, and freezing. Once frozen, place all of the balls into a container for your freezer.