Lamb's Quarter Saag Curry

Had I thought of making this dish when I still had raw milk, I would have made some paneer to go along with it! But, I used up all of my raw milk to make yogurt, so that will have to come another day. Instead, I made a straight up saag curry, as well as a shrimp curry with tamarind and fresh peas, and a couple of baby zucchni from my garden. I almost attempted a daylily version of Nepalese style okra with jerusalem artichokes, but that got a bit too ambitious for my weekday evening. 

Both curries turned out really delicious, very distinct from one another, though I took some liberties with the latter. It was my first time using tamarind paste, which I bought at the Ethiopian market sometime last year. I love the tang! Even without curry leaves, it was still really good. That recipe inspiration is here (I also used coconut cream instead of fresh coconut, which went fine), and the only thing I'd do differently is be more attentive to the shrimp - mine overcooked because I did not turn the heat all the way off for the curry to thicken. Next time I'd let it simmer a little longer before adding the shrimp, then just serve as soon as the shrimp is cooked.

I made my lamb's quarter saag following a combination of this recipe and this one. I promptly harvested more lamb's quarters on my post dinner walk to freeze for more of this exact preparation. Yum. (Though, this morning as I was steaming them, I noticed a distinct pee smell. Some of my greens came from around my boulevard tree, and I think that was not the most judicious choice. I rinsed them again and added some extra ginger - I'm hoping for the best.) 

Lamb's quarters work especially well here because you blend them up, so you can be extra forgiving with leaves and stems (just remove the tough main stem of larger plants), but you could use any green. Note: you blend up the lamb's quarters with ginger and garlic and some jalapeno, and you add a little extra ginger/garlic later to saute. They are listed separately below, but heads up for your "mis-en-place" if you do that kind of thing. Also, the nuts here serve to thicken the saag. I liked that addition, but it would be fine without, or just add extra cream at the end. I had leftover soaked and dehydrated almonds that are soft and blend well, so I used them. If I hadn't, I would skip that.

Lamb's Quarters Saag Curry

• 4-6 cups lamb's quarters (4 if they are pretty tightly packed; this is flexible)
• 1" knob of ginger, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1/8 jalapeno pepper, chopped (or more if you want extra spicy)
• 10 soaked cashews or almonds (opt)
  
• 2 T ghee or butter
• Seeds from 2 cardamom pods
• 1" cinnamon stick piece
• 2 cloves
  
• 1/4 tsp cumin seeds
• 1/2 c red onions, minced (I used part onion part garlic scapes)
• 1/2 tsp ginger, minced
  
• 1/2 tsp garlic, minced
• 1 tomato chopped (or 1/2 c frozen tomatoes)
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 3/4 tsp garam masala
• 1-2 T heavy cream to serve 

1. Prepare the lamb;s quarter puree: Steam or blanch your greens. I did this by bringing 1-2" of water to a boil in a pot,  then adding the greens and covering the whole thing. I stirred them a couple of times, so that in 2-3 minutes the greens were all wilted/steamed. You could also do a 1 minute blanch and then rinse in cold water. You don't want to overcook because you will lose the bright green. Once the greens are cool, add them, the ginger, garlic, jalapeno and nuts to a food processor and puree until smooth. 
2. For the Saag sauce: heat ghee or butter in a heavy skillet/pot over med heat. Once hot, add your whole spices: cardamom seeds, cinnnamon, cumin seeds. Saute just for 30 seconds or so, and add your minced onions. Saute until soft, a couple of minutes. Add the garlic and ginger and saute another minute. Add your tomatoes and sea salt, and stir to combine well. The tomatoes will have lots of juice, so let that release. You want a sort of wet paste. Once the tomatoes are soft, add the garam masala. Saute 2-3 minutes. You may need to add a little extra water here to keep the mixture wet.
3. Once the sauce is thickened, lower the heat and add your green puree. Heat just for a couple of minutes, until the curry starts to bubble. Taste for seasoning, add more salt or a little hot water if it is too thick. *If you have paneer, you would also add that in now, also stir in 2-3 T cream if you prefer that to nuts. Serve with some swirled cream on top. 

This would be great with dosa, which is on my list of fermented things to try making, and also of course rice or the Indian spice Kohlrabi or again, the Nepalese style okra and jerusalem artichokes.

Ethiopian Lamb and Collards

This weekend my friend taught me a new dish that was a common winter stew back home. My friend's mom is Gurage, the tribe or people whose specialty dishes include kitfo and kocho. Gurage folks eat kocho as their form of flat bread (versus injera), and my friend tells stories about her mom only eating kocho while the rest of the family ate the injera. This dish is also a Gurage one, and we ate it this weekend with kocho that I bought at Shabelle Grocery on Franklin Ave in Minneapolis. (For $10 for a package of what amounts to 8 kocho pieces. These come from Addis Ababa, coordinated by one of the folks at Dilla Restaurant on the west bank.) I really like kocho - it is a fermented flat bread that you can read more about here. It is also gluten free, which not all injera (at least in this country), is. 

Kocho - heated/fried in a bit of oil

This dish has pretty much everything I want in winter: lots of greens, chunks of meat, and a rich, buttery broth. The kocho is an added bonus that you also don't need.

4 large servings:

• 2+ pounds lamb stew meat or leg, cut in 1-2" pieces. (Have the butcher do this since there will be some bone there.)
  
• 1/4 c avocado oil
• 2-3 large red onions, diced
  
• 2-4 bunches collard greens, chopped - if you have small bunches, do 4! You want more greens than meat
  
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
  
• 5-6 jalapenos, sliced with seeds
• Salt and black pepper
  
• Ethiopian spiced butter to serve
• Mitmita to serve

1. Heat your oil in a large pot. Add onions and garlic and saute on medium until soft, taking care not to burn and to stir often.

2. After 5-10 minutes, add the lamb meat and about a cup of hot water. Add generous amounts of salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, and decrease the heat to low. Cover and simmer for about an hour or 90 minutes total, until the lamb is tender.

3. Add the greens about 30 minutes into the simmering. *You could also add them just after the meat, but I prefer a slightly less soft green.

 4. Just before serving, adjust the seasoning to taste, and add the jalapenos. Let that simmer another few minutes and prepare your butter/mitmita, if using. *Warm your spiced butter, and stir in mitmita spice, making the butter bright red and spicy. 

5. Serve in a large bowl or rimmed plate with some of the broth. Spoon mitmita butter on the side of your bowl to dip your lamb and kocho into as you eat (it will also melt into the bit of broth). Eat with kocho if you have some!

Gomen (Ethiopian Greens)

This week my friend and I are working remotely from the north shore, which was never possible for me pre-pandemic times, and feels pretty luxurious. The leaves are changing and it is really beautiful, and we've had delicious food and cooking and some good movie watching, primarily several Chadwick Boseman films. It has only been 2 years since I saw Black Panther, but I forgot SO MUCH of it! It helped that I knew the basic ending, so when I was stressed out mid-movie, forgetting what happened next, I ultimately knew it ended well. Which I cannot say for 2 of his other films that we watched, 42 and Marshall, which were both excellent and based on true events, so though I had some idea of the ending, it was not enough to not be stressed out!

My friend taught me how to make traditional gomen this week. The most notable thing about the dish is that the collards (or kale) are chopped/minced very fine to get the right texture/cooking. We ate them with some chicken and injera for maximum deliciousness, though I had some leftovers (chicken and gomen) sans injera with yogurt and a cucumber/tomato salad that were also great. *Note: I updated this recipe after cooking this together a 2nd time.

Gomen, serves 4-6

• 2 red onions, diced small
  
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 c Avocado oil (or oil of choice), plus more if needed
  
• 2 large bunches collards or kale
• opt seasoning: chicken bouillon cube
  
• salt and pepper
  
• 3-4 jalapenos, diced small (seeds too)

1. Prep your ingredients: chop and mince the onions, garlic, jalapenos and the greens. You could do all of these things in a food processor (separately), or by hand. If chopping by hand, remove the stem from the collards. Lay the green collard leaves on top of one another and make a tight role. Finely "chiffonade" the greens (meaning cut the role in fine slices, resulting in thin strips). Then take the chiffonade strips and turn them so you can cut them perpendicular to the first cuts to mince them. You want fine pieces of collards.

2. Heat a heavy saucepan over medium heat; add onions and saute until they start to release their juices and get soft (about 5 minutes). Add garlic to saute another 2 minutes. The mixture will get a bit gelatinous. Add avocado oil to keep things from sticking. Also add salt, pepper and any seasoning (bouillon cube, sometimes a dash of paprika and turmeric).

3. Add chopped greens. Saute and cook, stirring often, adding some more oil if needed. You do not add water here, despite maybe thinking about it. You want just enough oil so the greens don't stick to the pan.

4. Once the greens are soft and the whole dish seems like its glistening and delicious, add the jalapeno. Stir well, and heat another few minutes (or alternately turn heat to very low and finish other dishes you are preparing) and serve.

Liver on Grits with Ginger-Onion Confit and Greens

I spent the long weekend camping and harvesting wild rice, at a very slow pace because I am new to the activity, with many a mishap along the way! (Beginning the first day when my friend and I decided to rice at a closer lake than our ricing companions were at, so we ventured out without their tutelage, and push poled from the stern of the boat, rather than the bow. Which is a less stable and much more awkward way to go! 😂) To be on a lake, poling through thick rice, is like nothing I have done before. I'll save my musings for a future rice post, but suffice to say I am sore and grateful to have spent the weekend outside surrounded by beauty as the weather turned cool overnight. My car died on the way home yesterday, making the day quite long. I had enough time to drape the wet tent inside (it was raining out), eat some eggs, and get into bed by 9pm. So tonight when I finished work early, I decided to have wine and make a fancy dinner. Which feels quite perfect on this cool day, where fall seems around the corner, if not here already.

My dinner is based on a recipe from Culture Eatz that I've had saved for awhile. It is originally for polenta, which is so much like grits that I honestly don't really know the difference. I also made some cooked greens to add to the dish, and bacon. Which made this already somewhat indulgent dish even more so!! It was aces. Creamy grits, liver, fancy confit, greens AND bacon?! I mean, what is not to like here. So if you have a little time (at least an hour), settle in and make this dinner. 

I followed the recipe below very closely except for making this grits recipe (where I used butter and some cream, but no cheese or wine), and I only had red wine for the confit, which makes it look kind of weird. Next time I would maybe just use a little apple cider vinegar instead to keep the pale color - the ginger was so nice in there! I also didn't want to use sugar in the confit, so I used a chopped up a date or two instead and added them with the wine. Finally, I did not dredge my liver in flour, and instead just fried it in butter. (I also converted her recipe to American measurements, except for the polenta items, which are in blue.)

I did bake some bacon in the oven to crumble on top, and I made a side of greens where I sauteed some onions in coconut oil, added some garlic once the onions were soft, and then a bunch of chopped kale. I sprinkled water in the pan, put a lid on it to steam the greens, and cooked until the greens were soft. I seasoned with smoky salt. 

Ingredients

• 3/4 lb lamb (or calf) liver (I used chicken b/c that is what I had)
  
• 1 large onion
• 1.25 inch fresh ginger
• 1/2 c white wine (I only had red)
  
• 1/2 tsp thyme
• 1 clove garlic
• 250 ml milk
• 100 g polenta (corn meal)
• 25 g parmesan
• 1 rhubarb stalk (or 30 sour cherries, 30 cranberries or a tart apple)
• 4 sprigs sage
• flour* opt
  
• sugar* opt
  
• pepper
• salt
• oil
• butter

Instructions:

For the ginger-onion confit: Peel the onion and ginger. Cut into thin matchsticks. In a small pot put the onions and ginger with 2 tbsp water and a pinch of salt. Cook covered over a low heat until soft for about 30 minutes. You do not want it to brown. Add 100 ml of white wine, bring to a boil and lower heat to a simmer for 30 minutes uncovered, stirring regularly, or until almost all the liquid as evaporated. Season confit with a good pinch of salt and 2 tbsp of sugar. Mix well and set aside. Note: you can move on to the other components of this recipe when you start your 2nd simmer.

For the crispy sage: Pick 14 nice leaves from the sprigs. Heat a bit of oil in a pan, once the oil is hot fry the leaves until completely crispy but not too browned. They are ready when the leave have gone all dark green. Drain on paper towels and set aside. 

For the liver: Cut the liver into thin slices and season with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tbsp of butter in the same pan you fried the sage in. Drench the liver slices in flour and roast in the pan until cooked put still pink inside. Place the liver on an oven-safe plate and keep warm in the oven set at 160 F.

For the tart fruit: Cut rhubarb into slices and add it very shortly to the pan where the liver was roasted in. You just want to soften a bit, no more. Season with a pinch sugar, remove from the heat and set aside.

For the polenta: Place the crushed garlic and thyme in a cheesecloth and tie with string or a rubber band, cut of extra material. Bring 250 ml water, 250 ml milk, the remaining 50 ml white wine, the garlic and thyme package, and a large pinch of salt to a boil. Lower heat to low and discard the cheesecloth package. While stirring constantly and vigorously, add the polenta to the pot and cook until thickened. If the polenta is thick add more milk, you want a silky and malleable polenta. Add 1 tbsp butter and the grated parmesan and mix. Season with salt to taste. *Or make grits instead, which I find easier.

Assemble: Ladle polenta into two bowls (on top of greens, if using) and top with liver slices. Spoon onion confit on the liver, garnish with rhubarb and crispy sage (and bacon if using). Serve immediately while still warm. 

Nettles!

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago the big nettle forage I went on. It was my first time getting nettles, though not my first time eating them. The season may be wrapping up for them soon, but I thought I'd post about it in case there are still some out there to go after. I read somewhere that you want to harvest them before they are knee high - so keep that in mind!

Nettles have more protein than any other plant, and lots and lots of iron, vitamins A and C, potassium and other good for you vitamins. My Charming Companion's friend ate them daily throughout her pregnancy, and the doctor actually told her her iron was a little too high! High?!

The trick to eating nettles is to harvest them while wearing gloves (and pants) and using a scissors. Cooking them for 30 seconds removes the sting from the nettle - so one just needs to get them cooked. My Charming Companion and I harvested a couple of buckets full to freeze. Be sure to use tongs to handle these babies until they are cooked.

Nettles basically look how they sound. They don't look particularly edible because they look like they will sting! The edges are ridged and they grow tall, and there is a little furry-ness to the stems.






Cut the top part off the nettles, stem and all. (Some people say you can't use the stem, but I did and didn't even notice!) The new growth is the upper part, so cut just below the 2nd or 3rd tier of leaves, and again, don't use nettles that are over knee high.




To wash the nettles, we set up a two bucket sort of system. Fill a bucket with water and dump all the nettles in. Use the tongs to swish the nettles around and remove layers from the top. Put them into a 2nd bucket or large pot (this was a big canning pot).



To cook: Bring your largest pot, filled about 3-5" high with water, to a boil. When it is boiling, fill it with as many nettles as you can fit. Cover and steam/boil for 5 minutes or so. You may need to swish things around/push the nettles down.

Drain the nettles (keep the water to drink for nettle tea!) and press/squeeze out the water as best you can. (You can touch them now, they will just be hot!) We spread the nettles on two big trays and set them outside to cool off.

Once they are cool, do one more squeeze and you can store the nettles in the fridge for about a week, or put in bags and freeze.







They are partially cooked now, so you can use them to make all kinds of things: soup, pesto, saute them with onions, etc. The nettles have a chewiness that is more noticeable than any other green. They were delicious in this fritata with a little red pepper and some green onions.

Paleo Bibimbap

You know that really tasty cucumber noodle recipe I posted last month? I've been making it fairly non-stop ever since, especially eating it with bibimbap.  Bibimbap is a korean dish that is traditionally rice with a variety of vegetable dishes and meat all together in a bowl, with an egg on top. I have been having a version of that dish pretty much every week - sometimes twice. It's a meal that can use whatever you've got around, which makes it an easy weeknight dinner...or breakfast. Or lunch.

Though you can use whatever veggies you want, I recommend that for the paleo version you DO use the sesame cucumber noodles, since it provides a sort of base/extra flavor for all the other veggies. It sort of takes the place of the rice in that way - tying everything else together.

Here are some recommended veggies for my version of Paleo Bibimbap (serves 2) - primarily selected because they grow in my garden. But see other options and inspirations here (includes more precise measurements than I use) and here.

• Cold Sesame (cucumber) noodles
• Sliced Zucchini - Use a mandoline or sharp knife to thinly slice 1 smallish zucchini. Salt with 1 tsp salt and let sit in a colander over a bowl for 30 minutes. Squeeze and pat slices dry. Splash with olive oil and stir to mix.
• Julienne carrots - Cut 2 smallish carrots to matchsticks. Flash cook them in a pot of bowling water for about a minute. Remove from hot water, rinse briefly to cool. Season with salt.
• Sauteed greens (or red cabbage) - Grab a handful of kale or collards or mustard greens, roll up and thinly slice. Saute in coconut/olive oil with a little water for several minutes, until greens are wilted and bright. Season with tamari, olive oil, sesame oil, and vinegar.
• Seared green beans: Saute green beans in oil/fat for a few minutes, letting them brown on the pan over high heat before stirring. Sprinkle with some pepper flakes and sesame oil.
• Kimchi
• Meat (optional): Any thinly sliced leftover steak/pork would be great, or bacon is good too.
• 2 Fried or poached eggs
• Toasted sesame seeds and sliced green onion or chives (optional)
• Sriracha (is my cop out - the sauce can be made from the above inspiration links)

To assemble your dish: Each ingredient is dished between two large bowls. I generally put the big pile of cucumber noodles (which will be the largest quantity ingredient) in the center, with all of the other veggies/meat piled around it. Top the whole thing with the egg, and then sprinkle on the toasted sesame seeds and sliced green onion or chives. Serve with sriracha. YUM!

Breakfast Veggie Pile-up

The garden is in full swing with green beans, zucchini, cucumbers, and various other greens. Exciting! I've been eating lots of veggies for breakfast lately - always in the form of some sauteed veggie medley topped with either fried or scrambled eggs. It feels really decadent to eat so many vegetables for breakfast, and it is surprisingly easy. And you can use just about anything. I always make the veggie mix on my fave cast iron skillet, starting with the onions and slower cooking veggies, and adding in whatever else I am using so it all finishes about the same time. Then I dump the veggies onto my plate, put a little ghee in the pan, and cook up a few eggs to go on top.

This one was beets (from my co-worker's CSA), red cabbage, onion, and a little bit of sweet potato and bacon. I put a little homemade mustard in with the veggies too.

Greenery! There is zucchini, green beans, onions, basil, and kale in this one - everything was from the garden but the onions. I cooked some basil in with the scrambled eggs too, and put a little lemon juice on the greens while they cooked.

This photo got my breakfast table in addition to my plate - ah well.  This one was zucchini, bacon, onion, green beans, chives, and a leafy green called Tyfon Holland greens from the garden. They cook down pretty small (like spinach)- and are super good to throw in just about anything.

Cashew Bok Choy

Ooh, I am anxious for the next round of things to come in the garden. I am thinking green beans will be next - which I cannot wait to make some dilly beans with since those were the first pickled thing to go in the fridge last year.

I brought home bok choy this week, which I think I have written about before because I repeatedly overlook it in the store, and then I think it is so tasty when I saute it up. It isn't growing locally yet, so this is a precursor for when it is! The recipe is super simple - the toasted sesame oil is really nice with the toasted cashews, and it uses green onions (which are so good in this early springtime).  The original recipe is linked here on a blog that has grain free (usually paleo) stuff, including lots of desserts (if you are into the grain free dessert eating mayhem).  She says the recipe is also great with kale or spinach (and thus probably also spring's all abundant lamb's quarters).

Cashew Bok Choy
1 large head Bok Choy
1 T coconut oil
1 3/4 c chopped green onions
3 garlic cloves, minced (I omitted)
1 1/2 T toasted sesame oil
1/2 c. unsalted cashews
Salt to taste
Red pepper flakes to taste

1. Put your raw cashews in a cookie sheet and roast in a 450 degree oven for 5-7 minutes. Keep your eye on them so they don't burn!
2. Chop bok choy into 1/2 inch pieces - all of the white and green parts go in.
3. Heat oil in a large pan on med high heat and add onions. Cook for a few minutes (I put in the white part first and then toss in the greens after a minute or two).
4. Add bok choy and cover for another 5-8 minutes until wilted and/or tender to your liking.
5. Remove from heat and drizzle with sesame oil, salt, and red pepper flakes. Add toasted cashews. Serve!

Spicy Lamb's Quarters

SO many lamb's quarters!

Last weekend was a giant harvest of the 3 foot tall lamb's quarters at the north-side homestead. They took over the beds and aisles that are now planted with tomatoes and peppers, resulting in A LOT of lamb's quarters (two 5 gallon buckets that are stuffed full)!  I feel happy that the beds got a successive "planting" (if I can call the edible weed growth a planting). Seriously, if you have not tried it yet, this plant is really delicious - see post from a week or two ago about identifying this weed (there are lots of online recipes too).

Much of the harvest will go in the freezer for soup, but the stuff I kept out will likely go to this recipe created by My Charming Companion. It tastes sort of creamy with some nice spice and reminds me a little of East African collard greens (that I think I've had a few places, but including the Blue Nile). These are SO good!

Picture these but more creamy & yellow, with onions*

Spicy Lamb's Quarters, serves 2
1 small onion, chopped
4 c. chopped lambs quarters (or several big handfuls)
2 T coconut oil
1/4 c. coconut milk
2 tsp. coriander
1 tsp. turmeric
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. cayenne
1/4 tsp. garam masala
salt to taste
1 tsp apple cider vinegar

1) Heat coconut oil in a cast iron pan. Add onions and saute 3-5 minutes.
2) Add spices and stir.
3) When onions are translucent, add 1/2 of the greens with some water to steam and cover the pan. After a few minutes, add the rest of the greens plus the coconut milk and stir. Cover again to steam the next batch. Add a little more water if needed. Let cook a few more minutes so that greens are wilted and cooked through.
4) Salt to taste. Just before serving sprinkle with apple cider vinegar.

*Photographic side note: I am still without camera. I am somewhat bereft at this, but making due. If I had the means to be taking pictures, you would definitely have more accurate reflections of these dishes, including a shot of the two 5 gallon buckets filled with greens. There would also likely be a photo of the garden because it is looking so dang good right now - though perhaps that would not translate to photo as much as in real life. : )

Kale Chips

I've been meaning to try making kale chips all winter I think, and it was only after my mom fed me hers (and reported that she makes them all the time) that I finally got to it. She suggested I turn the oven hotter than most recipes say, which worked great for me. These are super simple to make and really tasty. I have yet to find a good way to store them so they stay crispy though. You can stick em back in the oven a day or two later and they'll crisp up again, but when I put them in a baggie, they wilted. Freezing them might work...I want to look for something because it would be a nice way to store garden kale into the winter.

Kale Chips
1 head of kale (I used red russian)
2 T fat (I used coconut oil, my mom uses olive oil)
Salt

Wash and de-stem the kale leaves. Toss with oil to coat each side - I stirred for a nice long while to make sure that all the leaves were thoroughly covered. Bake on a cookie sheet for 15 minutes at 350 degrees, checking leaves midway through to check for brown-ness. Make sure the leaves are spread out in a single layer. You will know they are done when they are crispy to the touch and just turning brown on the edges. Sprinkle with (smoky) salt and eat!

Raw Kale Salad

I know I am not the only one with lots of dark greens growing in abundance. I notice that mine tend to sit there for a long while - which is fine, they will last long into the fall - but I think it is because I keep thinking I need to eat them cooked. And as it turns out, this summer is not my summer for cooked greens. I try to eat them along with breakfast or dinner and I am not into it. I'm done after a few bites, and even those seem a bit forceful. But raw greens - that is a different story!


I looked up some basic raw kale recipes, and settled on Kale Salad with Pecorino and Lemon. The basic difference to eating raw kale versus cooked seems to be it needs to marinate for an hour or more to soften it up a bit. It actually felt like I was making a version of pesto when I made this salad, but without the food processor...similar smells. Which is maybe why I ended up adding in some roasted pistachios too. It was the only nut I had, though had I seen this before sticking them in the oven, I would have brined them first. Yum!


In the end, I also decided to use a different green than kale (my kale is way small, not enough sun)...I used Mustard Spinach Komatsuma - a new green I planted this year (which is delicious btw). It is not as tough as kale - more spinach-y. (That link has some recipe suggestions, including a kimchi that I am intrigued by.) Anyhow - the salad turned out amazing! The flavor is really nice - the lemon somehow compliments the slight bitter taste of the greens. I think the nuts add a really nice crunch to the salad too. These greens really sucked up the lemon and olive oil, and I wonder if kale would be a little less absorbent. I actually ended up using the juice of just one lemon and only 1/4 c. olive oil - and that was plenty for the komatsuna. Raw greens!

Chard and White Bean Stew

Lately I just want to eat greens non-stop. It is the getting-on-in-winter-need-for-dark-greens I guess. In this recipe I used collards and chard, though I have also been eating a lot of mustard greens. Yum. This stew recipe is a smitten kitchen concoction. It is really delicious with the poached egg on top and with a drizzle of good vinegar. I also added some lemon juice to the recipe, and more salt than she called for.

Incidentally...I started thinking about seed-orders and gardening this week! I am getting excited for a future of fresh herbs and veggies. In my recent interest in not consuming caffeine, I am looking at some herbs for sun-tea making! So we'll see what ends up in the garden...