Category Archives: Vegetables

Brown Rice and Vegetable Casserole – thank you, Whole Foods!

THIS is the ultimate comfort food, as good for your body as it is for your soul. See the end of the post to learn how to make it vegan, not just vegetarian.

I discovered this wonderful recipe while searching online for something to serve with a pork chop recipe I was trying out for the first time.

I didn’t have any potatoes on hand and also wanted to have only one other dish with which to deal (a fond (truly!) “thanks” to Professor L’Homme for making me forever uncomfortable ending a sentence with a preposition!) while trying out the pork chop recipe. Luckily, I quickly found the following recipe when I searched via Google for “rice and veggie casserole.”

I followed it practically to the word, although I did not have any chives or fresh oregano to garnish. I also chopped up a shallot along with the onion that is called for.

Just the ingredients look super!

Note: The parsley has been in water in the fridge, loosely covered with a plastic bag, for three weeks! Look how fresh it stayed! There is NO excuse, if one has a fridge, for not having fresh parsley on hand. <grin>

Brown Rice and Vegetable Casserole (Click the recipe title for the original and tons more great recipes from Whole Foods Market.)

Serves 8-10
Serve this hearty dish alongside grilled meats. Feel free to use leftover brown rice in this recipe, and other grains such as wild rice and quinoa also work well.

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 (8-ounce) package sliced mushrooms
1 medium zucchini, chopped
1 medium yellow summer squash, chopped
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
4 cups cooked long-grain brown rice
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
2 tablespoons chopped oregano
2 tablespoons chopped chives

There is nothing like freshly grated Parm-Reggiano cheese....

Here are ALL the ingredients! Except the olive oil. 🙂

Method

Preheat oven to 350°F. In a large skillet, warm olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and onion and cook, stirring frequently, until tender, about 5 minutes. Add bell pepper, mushrooms, zucchini and yellow squash. Cook, stirring frequently, until vegetables are just tender, 5 minutes. Add tomatoes and cook 2 minutes longer. Add salt and pepper.

My 12" skillet was VERY full at first!

But it all cooks down.

In a large bowl, combine rice, cooked vegetables, cheese, eggs, parsley and oregano. Pour into a lightly oiled 9×13-inch casserole dish. Bake 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown on top. Garnish with chives and serve immediately.

With the rice. Actually, I mixed the cheese and egg in the skillet rather than in a separate bowl.

Ready to bake

————————-

I left it in the oven longer that called for by the recipe, but it is one of those handy dishes that don’t depend upon removal from heat at an exact time.

DONE! And very yummy.

So, there it is. A definite keeper in the Dennis/Breton household. If you follow a vegan diet, use soy cheese and, for the egg, use flax seed. Just grind flax seeds with water (about 1:3 per egg) in a blender or surbachi for to get and egg-like binding quality.

Perfect Oven-Roasted Vegetables

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I need to do another post to finish up Easter, especially so I can share the recipes of the lovely items that other folks brought. But, it has been a busy few weeks.

I was totally booked the entire weekend of April 10-11 and again this past weekend, with the weeks in between Easter and now taken up by preparing, as Board President and de facto volunteer Admin person, for my church’s annual meeting (www.wakefielduu.org) on 4/15 and also for my father-in-law’s Celebration of Life service on 4/17. All went well, but I was glad to finally have time to cook a meal last night!

It was just the simple but tasty Garlic Chicken Leg Quarters and, to keep things on that simple theme, I thought I would roast potatoes and also roast the other veggies. BUT…how to do everything at once without having to set multiple timers and add the other veggies after the potatoes, etc. ? I didn’t want to have burnt broccoli and hard potatoes, but I didn’t want to have to open the oven once I put the chicken in! (I guess I was still feeling stressed for time even though I didn’t even have a meeting to go to after dinner. 🙂

ANYWAY -here is my solution. I found a recipe for roasted broccoli and potatoes that said, along with seasoning and a few tablespoons of olive oil, just put it all together in a 9×13 casserole, cover tightly with foil, and bake at 400 for 45 minutes to an hour. How easy is that?

The chicken is supposed to cook for 50 minutes at 425, so I just cooked both dishes at 400 for the hour and that was that – ready to serve.

For the veggies, I used broccoli, carrots, new potatoes, and mushrooms for the veggies, chopped some fresh rosemary, and added sea salt and freshly ground pepper before roasting. They were fabulous! Not quite the same crunch on the outside that you get when roasting veggies uncovered, but there was still a satisfactory firmness to the outside and that lovely intense flavor that comes with roasting. And, because the dish was covered, there was no charring of the broccoli, the musrooms were not shriveled, and all the veggies has a creamy sort of texture on the inside.

Here is the original recipe on which I based my roasted veggies – and from which I learned about covering with foil! Click the name of the recipe to go to the original recipe web page, courtesy of Teri’s Kitchen.

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Roasted Broccoli and Potatoes

1 medium head broccoli or bunch broccoli crowns, tough ends removed, remainder cut into medium florets and small stems
3 small potatoes, cut into 1-inch chunks
3 large cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried marjoram leaves
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400° F. Place broccoli and potatoes in a 13x9x2-inch baking dish. Add the next 4 ingredients and toss or stir to combine. Cover tightly with foil. Bake until the vegetables are tender, about 1 hour. (If you prefer crispier vegetables, check them after 45 minutes.) Remove the foil and sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese. Return to oven just until the cheese melts slightly. Serve hot or room temperature.

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If I am going to roast just one type of veggie (especially potatoes) or a group of veggies that all take the same time to cook, I am sure I will still use the uncovered method. But, if I am not sure how long it will be before dinner (the covered ones will hold at a “keep warm” temperature) or want to combine veggies in one simple dish, I will be using the covered method of roasting veggies. And, not just for hurried home meals. This is good enough for company!

Prepping for Easter Dinner 2010

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I do the family Easter and July 4th, with my brother Steve and sister-in-law Lorraine hosting Thanksgiving and Christmas. I am expecting the number of folks, that being 14-16. I think 12 if the least amount we’ve had at the Easter table and 18 was the most. Not that I do the china, silver, and sit around the table. We do it buffet style. Although, I do have a beautiful dining room table and sideboard, now. But, I am NOT up to unpacking my Mom’s china and crystal, most of which is in the attic. Someday….

I’ve been doing the same menu each year – makes it easier. Now I just have a to do list that I follow.

Guests bring a variety of side dishes, appetizers, and desserts, and I provide the ham, chicken tarragon, baked mashed potatoes, and roasted asparagus, as well as modest array of beverages. Wine is a favorite. 🙂 Merlot in particular.

Today, the day before the holiday, I have the asparagus keeping fresh in water in the fridge:

9 pounds of asparagus in water.

gotta love Farm Land bags. 🙂

That’s the asparagus, loosely covered before being put in the fridge. I will prep them tomorrow with olive oil, salt and freshly grated parm reggiano around 2:30 p.m. and pop them in the oven to roast right before we plan to eat dinner.

I also have chicken tarragon in the oven all day at 200 degrees to mimic a slow cooker. My crock pot is too small for 6.5 pounds of chicken breasts and thighs! Tonight, once the chicken is cooked and cooled, I will de-bone and de-skin it (I left the skin on the breasts to keep them from getting dry while cooking), save the liquid, and finish up the gravy tomorrow after church.

Here is the recipe, with the title linked to the original as I found it online:

Chicken Taragon

1 (3 to 4 pound) frying chicken
2 tablespoons soft butter or margarine
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon tarragon
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
3 tablespoons vinegar (or white wine)

[Note: I used 6.5 lbs with bone-in, three breasts and the rest thighs, removing excessive fat and the skin from the thighs. I also increased spice amounts by 50%. And, I used my dutch oven, with foil under the lid to increase the tightness of the lid fit, in a 200 degree oven.]

Rub chicken with butter; place in slow cooker (crock pot). Combine seasoning and herbs and sprinkle evenly over chicken. Add vinegar or white wine.

Cover and cook on low about 8 hours. Do not remove lid during this time. Remove chicken, place on a large platter.

Gravy

2 tablespoons corn starch
1 cup accumulated cooking liquid (if necessary, add chicken broth to make one cup)

Combine 2 tablespoons corn starch in two tablespoons cold water, stir until smooth. In a saucepan, combine the corn starch mixture with one cup of accumulated liquid. Heat and stir until mixture boils and becomes thickened. Serve over hot chicken. Yields 4 servings.

My least favorite cooking task is peeling potatoes. But, peel I must. I am actually quite fond of this baked mashed potato recipe, though. NOT a low-fat dish, by any means. But, it is a great way to prepared potatoes for a holiday meal because you boil and mash the day before and then baked them the next day. And, all the extra fat means that they don’t dry out on the warming tray when serving.

Here is the recipe, with the title linking back to the original as I found it online:

Mashed Baked Potatoes

Use greased 9 x 13 inch pan. Serves 12. 5 pounds potatoes; boil, drain and mash. Add: 4 tbsp. butter 1 1/2 c. half & half 1/4 tsp. garlic salt 1 (8 oz.) pkg. Philadelphia cream cheese

Mix well and spread in pan. Cover with foil paper and refrigerate overnight. Drizzle 3 tablespoons melted butter over potatoes and sprinkle with paprika. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes, check at 30 minutes, to light brown.

[Note: I used 6.5 pounds of potatoes – 1/2 Idaho and 1/2 Yukon Gold. I used the same amount of cream cheese, but added an extra Tbsp of butter and about another 1/3 cup half and half.

BIG NOTE: Upon reading the recipe as I posted it, I realized that I forgot to grease the Pyrex pan in which I put the potatoes… Well, I guess we will find out the consequences of this tomorrow. <wry grin> ]

6.5 lbs of potatoes. ARRRRGGGH!

I used two big pots to boil the potatoes, then put half back in the bigger pot, added all the other ingredients, then put the other half of the potatoes in – then I mashed. And mashed, and mashed…

from the pot...

...to the pan!

See that spatula/spoon? It totally rocks. I recommend it highly! It is a Rubbermaid Professional 13-1/2 Inch Heat Resistant Spoonula. Click HERE and look for the link to it on Amazon.com. I have other recommendations there, as well.

Once all the taters were in the pan, (that I forgot to grease….) I wanted to cool it all off quickly before covering and putting in the fridge overnight. Ice bath time.

An ice bath helps bring the temperature down quickly.

I’ve always been paranoid about food safety, and discovered that I have been following ServSafe protocol for years before I took the course this past November. NEVER put hot food directly into the fridge! Cool as quickly as possible to room temperature, first. The best way is to use an ice bath.

I have a very cool sink. 🙂

It is old and chipped, and seldom looks this clean.

Steve was going to throw this sink away when he bought the house. Silly man!

Anyway… The potatoes are safely covered and in the downstairs fridge. (Okay, so I am REALLY lucky and also have an extra fridge. It is 74 years old but works fine. Really. I’ll take a picture on these days. An old GE.

On to the Chicken Tarragon. The chicken was done in the 8 hours. I actually put it up to 250 degrees for an hour in the afternoon and then back to 200 degrees. Next time, I think I will start it at 250 for the first hour and then lower to 200 for the duration and check it after 7 hours. I don’t have time to explain the details right now, but the latest Cook’s Illustrated Magazine has a chicken recipe that entails braising and talks about cooking at too high a temperature can cause the chicken to get tough.

dutch oven with foil to mimic crock pot

Crock pots/slow cookers have a tight seal and don’t let much moisture out. To increase the seal on my dutch oven, I put a piece of foil under the lid.

Here are the results, after straining out the broth from the cooked chicken:

cooked chicken and 3 cups of broth

Just cooling things off 🙂

Once the chicken was cool enough to handle, I picked the meat off the bones and also discarded any skin and extraneous fat.

about 2 and 2/3 lb of meat from 3 1/2 pounds bone in

So, all is in the fridge. In the morning, before I head out at 9:30 a.m. for choir practice, I will prep the ham and put it in the oven and program my oven to come on at 11:30 a.m. I’ll do a new blog entry for the Sunday activity. But, suffice to say, I have an easy “to do “list to follow. Except for the final house cleaning….well, no one if perfect!

Classic Creamed Spinach – comfort without the cream!

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Finally I post again. I have quite a backlog of posts but I had to get this up right away – it is a great way to enjoy spinach, even if you don’t like it very much. And, for those of us who do like spinach, this recipe compliments, rather than masks the flavor.

I was looking for a creamed spinach recipe to go along with my favorite Garlic Roasted Chicken Leg Quarters. I had some sweet potatoes I needed to use up and wanted some greens for contrast, but also wanted a more “comfort food” texture than steamed veggies.

As I perused the Internet, I found many recipes that looked very tasty, with heavy cream and nutmeg often featured. But, I didn’t want use cream so as to save a few calories. And, I’ll go for shallots over onions almost any time.

Finally, I found the following recipe for creamed spinach, courtesy of sgrishka via Bigoven.

2 pounds fresh spinach, washed
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 shallots, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole milk, warmed
2 tablespoons Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, freshly grated (optional)
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, freshly grated
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Fresh ground black pepper, to taste
Coarse salt, to taste

Remove tough stems of spinach. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add the spinach and cook for 2 minutes. Transfer to a colander and drain. Using the back of a large spoon, press spinach to release as much water as possible, then chop coarsely.

Using a medium sauté pan over medium heat, heat the butter. Sauté shallots until softened, about 4 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Using a wooden spoon, add the flour and cook, stirring, 3 minutes. Slowly add warm milk and simmer, whisking, 3 to 4 minutes to thicken. Whisk in cheese (if using) and nutmeg, season with salt and pepper. Add spinach and cook, stirring, until heated through, about 2 minutes.

NOTE: I used a 10 oz bag of fresh spinach and halved the ingredients. Next time, I’ll use two bags – Steve and I won’t have any trouble eating twice as much, next time. 🙂

I especially liked the addition of a pinch of cayenne. It gave a nice little bite to it, and also inspired me to add cayenne to my sweet potato. Now, there is an easy and nutritious side dish! Here is how I prepare sweet potatoes, or as they are often called in the USA, yams.

After rinsing them off, I foke a few holes in them and cook them on high in the microwave for about 5 minutes per potato. [NOTE: I prefer to roast them at 400 in the oven for about an hour – maybe 45 minutes, but when in a hurry, nuking sure is handy.] Let cool a bit, then peel and mash, in a bowl or saucepan, adding some olive oil and a bit of water to make less dense and also add maple syrup, salt, pepper, nutmeg, and a touch of cumin and cayenne, to taste and your liking. I usually add enough water to give the mashed sweet potatoes a texture closer to mashed butternut squash. I also usually mash potatoes or squash in the top pan of my double boiler so I can then keep them warm while I finish preparing the rest of the meal.

Anyway – this combination of the garlic chicken, creamed spinach, and mashed sweet potatoes was excellent. Definitely a keeper at our house. And, for vegetarians, I can see something made with tempeh or lentils going well with the vegetable dishes. Something for everyone. 🙂

Mashed Potato Casserole with collards, cheese, and caramelized onions

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WOW. This was, to quote the native Wakefield MA person that I am, “wicked good!” (Should I add “Menga? I have no idea how to spell it, but the last time I heard it (other than from some long-lost and quickly again forgotten person I ran into last year) was at Lanie Island in the 1980s. Scary times. However, I digress. <grin>

It was time to use up things in the cupboard and fridge. I had lovely potatoes from Farmer Dave and exquisite carrots from Flats Mentor Farm, both via the Wakefield Farmer’s Market, and collard greens from the garden I help with by the lake. By the way, the best way to keep greens such as collard, kale, and chard, is to put them like cut flowers in water, cover loosely with a plastic bag, and store in the fridge.

This is after TWO weeks in the fridge!

So, I started by searching for “potatoes and collards” and found this:

Collard-cannon with ale-braised onions & raw milk cheddar

I pretty much followed the directions, although I added grated carrots and I didn’t happen to have a block of high-test cheese in the fridge. I actually did have a small amount of super cheddar from the Farmer’s Market, but not enough for the recipe and better savored with a cracker or two, anyway.

The original recipe didn’t have any set amounts of ingredients, but it was easy enough to wing it. Here is what I used for ingredients:

About 3 cups chopped collard greens, not tightly packed:

(See Simmered Greens – Collard, Mustard, and Arugula for tips for chopping collard greens)

chopped collards, one- cup measure on right for scale

The original recipe calls for steaming the greens, but I opted to blanch in boiling water for just under 3 minutes.

Not shown here, but I also grated a few small carrots – maybe 1 cup loosely packed after grating.

About 2 and a half pounds or so of potatoes with skin left on
1/2 cup or a bit more low-fat plain yogurt
2-3 TBSP olive oil
1/4 cup or more hot water:

Potatoes getting the pre-mash cook

After cooking to fork tender, I mashed the potatoes with a few dollops of low-fat yogurt and some olive oil, along with a bit of hot water to get the right texture. Next, I caramelized the onions to be folded into the mashed potatoes.

Here are the results: about five cups of mashed potatoes.

Three of my favorite tools

As aside, here. I just love pyrex measuring cups. This is my quart – or 4-cup one. I have the 1, 2, and 8 cup versions, too. Really handy! And, of course, the knife my Mom gave me years ago. Just a treasure. And, my new handy-dandy heat-resistant up to 400 degrees “spoonula.” Okay, on to the onions.

Three medium to large onions, sliced
2 TBSP olive oil
1/2 cup or so beer

Just starting to brown

First, I heated up two TBSP or so olive oil in my saute pan. (Yes, it’s All-Clad and I love it!) I sauted the onions on high, stirring frequently, until they started browning nicely, as shown above – up to 10 minutes. Then I cooked them for another 10 or so minutes on med-low until they got really brown:

Ready to deglaze!

The next step is to deglaze the onions with beer. I’ll just quote the original recipe: “When they were nicely browned, we deglazed the pan with a cup or so of brown ale — gathering up all those delicious browned bits that clung to the pan and granting the onions a bit of that delicious beer-y flavor.” I couldn’t say it better myself. 🙂

before reducing the deglazing liquid

After scraping the pan to loosen all the tasty bits, I let the onions stay on a low simmer for a few minutes until just about all the liquid evaporated. Then, I folded them into the potatoes:

Taters and onions. YUM!

Next it is the layering game. Put 1/2 the taters in a greased baking dish and cover with all the collard and carrots. I used my 10 inch square corning ware pan.

Great colors, don't you think?

The last ingredient is about 2 cups of grated cheddar cheese. I just used regular New York Sharp. I then sprinkled half the cheese on the veggie layer:

Half-way assembled

Next, I added the rest of the potatoes and topped it off with the rest of the cheese.

Ready for the oven

I used my toaster 0ven. I have the Cadillac of toaster ovens. It is a Krups 6-Slice Digital Convection Toaster Oven, as recommended by cooks Illustrated, and it rocks. I just used the regular oven setting versus convection for this dish. 1/2 an hour at 375 degrees did it. (Pre-heat first if using a regular oven.)

YUM:

Ready to eat!

Okay – here is the list of indgredients and the instructions all together so you can copy and paste to a file for printing:
I pretty much followed the directions, although I added grated carrots and I didn’t happen to have a block of high-test cheese in the fridge. I actually did have a small amount of super cheddar from the Farmer’s Market, but not enough for the recipe and better savored with a cracker or two, anyway.

The original recipe didn’t have any set amounts of ingredients, but it was easy enough to wing it. Here is what I used for ingredients:

About 3 cups chopped collard greens, not tightly packed
1 cup grated carrot
2 and a half pounds or so of potatoes, peeled or not
1/2 cup or a bit more low-fat plain yogurt (or sour cream)
2-3 TBSP olive oil
1/4 cup or more hot water as needed for mashed texture
3 medium to large onions, sliced thin
2 TBSP olive oil
1/2 cup or so beer
2 cups grated cheddar or other type of cheese

1) Chop up the potatoes and set to boiluntil soft.
2) Slice onions and saute in olive oil until caramelized.
3) While potatoes and onions cook, chop collard greens and grate carrots and cheese.
4) Add beer to deglaze the onions, and simmer for a few minutes until most liquid is gone.
5) Mash potatoes with yogurt, olive oil, and hot water as needed.
6) Fold onions into mashed potatoes
7) Lightly grease a shallow baking dish and spread with 1/2 the potatoes.
8) Cover with collards and carrot (and/or any other veggie) and top with 1/2 the grated cheese.
9) Spread on the rest of the potatoes and top with the rest of the grated cheese.

Bake for 30 minutes at 375 degrees in a pre-heated oven.

To accompany, I also prepared a very interesting dish that I will blog about the next time I have a moment. My reason for this dish? I had fennel in my fridge. Why? I don’t remember why…well, last week I was going to try a recipe that used it but never got around to it. I don’t remember what the recipe was…BUT, the good news is that the dish I made was super. You can find it here:

Italian Sausage with Fennel, Peppers, and Onions Check back later for my post about it. Enjoy!

Can’t go wrong with fresh mozzarella!

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moz a and p from above

Fresh Mozarella purchased at the Farmer’s Market from “The Cheese Man” Phil Hermann, who brings locally made mozzerella, ricotta and goat cheese to the market. Basil, also from the Farmer’s Market. Tomatoes from our back yard. A little olive oil, salt, pepper and a touch of rice vinegar – out of this world!

and to think that you saw it on Armory St

Simmered Greens – Collard, Mustard, and Arugula

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I have a number of recipes for collard greens – some vegetarian, some more traditional, some specifying longer cook times, and one I found and use often that cooks up collards “quick and easy.” Before I get into the details of how I prepared them to serve with the Pan Seared Shrimp, here is the quick and easy (and tasty!) one from Cooking Light, November 1994.

Quick Collard Greens

1 cup low-salt chicken broth, divided
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
11 cups tightly packed chopped fresh collard greens (about 4 1/2 pounds)
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/8 teaspoon salt

1. Heat 1/2 cup chicken broth in a large Dutch oven over medium heat until hot. Add garlic, and cook 2 minutes, stirring frequently.

2. Add collard greens and remaining 1/2 cup broth; stir well. Cover and cook 7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat; stir in crushed red pepper and salt.

You can always add a bit of smoked parprika or some scraps of ham to add a little of that tradional “ham hock” flavor.

But – now for the latest greens recipe. By the way, it is even better the next day. I am having some for breakfast as I write this part of the post. YUM!

Now, for years I didn’t really have a clue as to what to do with collard greens beyond toss them in soup. How this happened, given that I followed different vegetarian diets for years, including vegan and macrobiotic, I do not know! But, given that I have a ton of them and other greens in the garden I help with, I am glad I know what to do with them, now!

I know that prepping them was always a mystery for me, as was know how much resulted in how much once cooked. For those who are not familiar with collards, I took some pictures and will include written steps to help you along. But first, here are the ingredients I used most recently. Please note that you do not need to follow the amounts exactly when you make your greens. This is a ART not a SCIENCE. It is also a way to use up greens and ham scraps. <grin> I am just recording what I did so I can use it in the future as a guideline, as should you!

For example, I was planning to just do collard greens, but they cooked down so much, I cut the greens off the baby turnips I had bought and grabbed some argula I had picked a few days ago and added them, plus an additional cup of stock (I started with 2 cups) and then let it all simmer. Again, an art, not a science!

Assorted Greens Simmer

2 TBSP olive oil
2 medium oinions, chopped medium
2 clove garlic, chopped
heaping 1/4 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
3 cups veggie or other stock
5-6 oz ham scraps
11 oz chopped collards (maybe two bunches from the market?)
9 oz wild chopped arugula (the skinny leaves with pronouced indentations – from my garden)
9 oz turnip chopped greens (from the baby white turnips at the Farmer’s Market)

Heat the olive oil in a heavy saucepan or dutch oven. When hot, add onions, garlic, and pepper flakes and saute until soft, 5-10 minutes. Add ham scraps and suate for a few more minutes, then add stock and greens (or, you can add greens and wilt before adding stock). Bring stock to a light boil, cover pot tighty, and simmer for around an hour. Once there greens are quite tender, you can hold on low for hours.

I took some pictures while I made this dish, partly to show an easy way to prepare collards, and partly because I have fun taking pictures. 🙂

The first time I prepared collards greens in a way that came out really tasting really good was for my New Year’s Day open house on 1/1/09. You’ll find the recipe for vegatarian collard greens elsewhere on this blog, but there was one issue. It took a LONG time to prepare the collard greens! But now I know a better way…

Slice the thickest part of the stem off. the photo shows only one leaf,but you can do this with more than one leaf at a time. Then stack the leaves, roll them up, and slice into 1 1/2 inch wide strips.

slice the stems

chop the leaves

a bunch of leaves all chopped

all done - one-cup measure to right for scale

Saute the onion, garlic and peper flakes and add the ham.

Then, add the chopped collard greens

Once the collards cooked down, I realized that I needed more greens and added the turnip and arugla.

just collards cooked down

with other greens added

Remember, you don’t have to do greens and stock in two parts! This is just what I did when creating this dish.

Note: when preparing the other greens, do chop off the thicker stems – most get soft from the long simmer, but if too thick, they can be tough.

Another Note: if you don’t have ham or don’w want to use it, add maybe a teaspoon or so to taste of smoked parika if you want a deeper flavor. Also, you can add fresh or canned tomatoes to this dish at the end if you like.

Grilled marinated flatiron steak, fresh green beans, and potatoes…

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This was such a low-key yet delicious meal. Flatiron, or top blade steak, has “a rich, deep, beefy flavor,” to quote the guys who wrote “The Complete Meat Cookbook” (Aidells and Kelly). Yes, there is the “signature” line of gristle down the middle of the steak, but for the economical price and BIG flavor, it is worth a little work!

I marinated four steaks (they are not big) for about 4 hours in one of my favorite marinades from the same cookbook. I lucked out and found the marinade recipe online – how easy to cut and paste! <grin> NOTE: I poke holes in both sides of the steaks with a toothpick before marinating. Every 1/2 inch or a bit more or so.

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Chipotle-Orange Marinade
From The Complete Meat Cookbook (Canada, UK), by Bruce Aidells and Denis Kelly.

Ingredients:

2 tsp grated orange zest
1 cup fresh orange juice
3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp minced garlic
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 Tbsp chopped canned chipotle chile in adobo, Herdez brand, or 1 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Instructions:

Combine all the ingredients in a small bowl.

Yield: Makes 2 to 2-1/2 cups
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FYI – I often use chili garlic sauce in lieu of garlic and chilies, but this time I used the garlic as called for in the recipe and the teaspoon of red pepper flakes. It is all good! Actually, for this meal, I used lemon zest instead of orange. No matter. I think anything citrus is the key.

After the four hour soak, I removed the steaks from the marinade, gently patted them dry with a paper towel, and put them on a baking rack over a pan and set aside (in a safe place since one does not want to sorely tempt the dog and cat) to get closer to room temperature before grilling. NEVER more than a hour for that! The goal is to get the inside temperature close to that of the outside for more even cooking, but be safe!

Steve was, as always, the grill person – he removed the steaks from the grill once they registered about 125 or so degrees with an instant read thermometer. We then let them rest for a bit while covered in foil.

NOTE: the one thing I do NOT do in “the kitchen” is grill. So, that is all I can say about that, except that they came out just a touch more than rare but not at all medium-rare, and I could cut mine with a dinner knife. YUM. 🙂

We were blessed with green beans from the garden I am attempting to help with (long story, but it is doing pretty darn well with way less attention than it deserves!), and the recipe was quick and easy.

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Sesame Green Beans (click recipe name to go to the allrecipe page)

* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
* 1 pound fresh green beans, cut into 2 inch pieces
* 1/4 cup chicken broth
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* freshly ground black pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS
1. Heat oil in a large skillet or wok over medium heat. Add sesame seeds. When seeds start to darken, stir in green beans. Cook, stirring, until the beans turn bright green.
2. Pour in chicken broth, salt and pepper. Cover and cook until beans are tender-crisp, about 10 minutes. Uncover and cook until liquid evaporates.

FYI – I only had about 10 oz of beans and used 1/2 cup stock. It is a flexible recipe.

I also served potatoes. I bought some small, new, red potatoes from Farmland, my favorite grocery store here in Wakefield MA. I cut them in half and steamed them until tender while heating up the water in the bottom of my double boiler. Once fork-tender, I put them in the top of the double boiler with some butter – okay, I used Smart Balance ™ – and a dash of lemon juice. The double boiler kept them nice and hot without overcooking them until the rest of the meal was ready to serve. by the way, you can keep things hot, safe, and not overcooked for a long time in a double boiler.

And….Along with the garden I am helping with, we are doing container gardening here at Armory St. We had our first tomato this evening. yuuuuuum…. I sliced it and put it over a bed of romaine lettuce (also from that other garden, although we have plenty or green leaf lettuce growing stupendously well in some boxes on our attic balcony) sprinkled with oregano and then drizzled in olive oil. WOW. THAT was such a treat.

So, that is the latest – enjoy!