Leafy greens are probably the least respected of all vegetables. Their nutritional value is high, they're low in calories and filling, they are easily enhanced with any of your favorite flavors and they are readily available year round. Here are a couple of ideas to get more greens into your diet. Most of the greens listed below can be used interchangeably in these recipes.
Arugula, Broccoli/Rabe, Collard Greens, Dandelion Greens, Kale, Mustard Greens, Romaine Lettuce, Spinach, Swiss Chard, Escarole, Beet Greens, Bok Choy, Endive, Watercress. Just a few of many.
A simple way to eat more greens is to add them to a salad. I also think this is the most boring. I also suggest adding them to a tomato sauce with other mixed vegetables. If you cook the greens right in the sauce you won't lose the nutrients you would if they were first blanched and then added to the dish.
See my first post for a Mustard Green soup.
Escarole Bread You can make your own pizza dough, if you are so inclined. I bought mine from a local pizzeria.
1 pizza dough
3 cloves garlic
1/2 medium onion
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 bunches of escarole
1 can chick peas or cannellini beans
2 table spoons pine nuts toasted
4 anchovies or 1 tsp anchovy paste (just try them... they're not fishy)
1/4 cup dried cranberries (I would have preferred fresh cooked down)
Finely chop all ingredients. Rinse your escarole and chop.
Heat the olive oil and chopped onions add minced garlic sauté until onions are translucent.
Add anchovies, pine nuts, escarole and beans. Sautee for a minute and then add salt and pepper. Add cranberries and sauté for another minute then remove from heat.
Spread out pizza dough on a well flowered countertop, as if making a pizza. Spread escarole filling down one half of the dough. Fold the dough on top of itself and press the edges sealed. Put 3 or 4 slits in the top of the bread. Brush with a mixture of crushed garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper.
Bake for about 30 minutes at 400 or until the edges have browned.
Mozzarella cheese is also a nice addition to this bread. Sprinkle it on top of the escarole mixture before sealing the bread.
Spinach Bread 1 pizza dough
1 cup whole milk ricotta cheese
1/3 cup shredded mozzarella
2 1/2 cups spinach
3 cloves of garlic
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Wash and chop your spinach
Heat oil and sauté with 2 cloves of garlic, salt and pepper to taste
Add spinach and sauté for a minute until it begins to wilt
Mix salt and pepper and one clove of garlic crushed into the ricotta and then mix in the mozzarella
Add cooked spinach to the cheese mixture
Roll out the pizza dough into a rectangle. Spread cheese and spinach mixture evenly over the dough, with a bit more at one end. Start rolling from the end with the most stuffing. Brush the top of the roll with olive oil, salt and pepper.
Swiss Chard Stuffed Shells Swiss Chard and onions from week #2
1 box of pasta shells
1 head (about 12 ounces) red or white Swiss chard
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped (I used about 4 small-medium green onion bulbs)
1 clove garlic, minced
2 clove garlic, crushed
1/4 cup chopped fresh or frozen basil
1 cup whole milk ricotta cheese
kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
Boil your pasta in salted water. When cooked, rinse with cold water and set aside.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
Chop your onions and swiss chard
Heat olive oil in pan and add onions. Let the onions sweat until translucent.
Add some garlic to brown.
Add the swiss chard and cover. Reduce by 1/4 then stir.
Let the rest of the chard wilt in the pan then remove from heat.
The greens should still be bright. The longer you cook them the more nutrients you will use. However, you don't want them to be too difficult to chew.
Let your chard mixture cool.
In a large bowl mix together your ricotta with 2 cloves of crushed garlic, chopped basil, salt and pepper to taste.
Add the ricotta to the chard mixture (not the other way around.) You may find you like a bit more or less ricotta than I used. Doing it this way will allow you to control that. Basically you just want to bind the chard together and add some creaminess.
Coat the bottom of your baking dish with tomato sauce to keep the shells from sticking (no need for oil or butter here!)
Fill each shell with approximately 2 tablespoons of the ricotta-chard mixture. Line the shells up in the dish and cover with sauce enough to keep them from getting dry.
**These are so good. The flavor of the swiss chard is not lost which is excellent. The swiss chard has such a nice earthy flavor that goes really well with the tomato sauce. I was able to make about 2 dozen stuffed shells from this recipe. At least 10 of them are sitting in my freezer for another dinner <3
Kale Chips!!!Using Kale from week #4 Please, try this recipe. I think you will love it.
1 head of Kale
Salt & Pepper
Your choice of seasoning
These are so easy to make and they're delicious. A little messy to eat but totally worth it.
Wash and dry your kale. Strip the kale leaves from their stems. Lay flat on a cookie sheet or elevate using a cooling rack over a cookie sheet (if possible)
Spray kale with olive oil spray or drizzle with olive oil from a bottle.
Add salt and pepper. I also add minced garlic and red pepper. Any seasoning works well.
Cook at 250-300 degrees until they are dry and crispy but before they start to brown.
**I could easily finish off two heads of Kale a week, by myself, because of these**
