the good recipe post for the equinox of March

It's supposed to officially be Spring any minute but in much of the country you'd never know that. Winter has returned with brute force. So greenery pickings can be slim. Here are a few hopefully soul brightening ways to deal with that--and give you time to re-orient your thoughts about buying organic wholesome meat after reading the article in the last post. The three recipes could be combined into a hearty, colorful and very healthy meal.

Leek and Spinach Pie

From the mountain tops of northern Greece, here is how to fix a leek! This variation of my popular Chard Torte and Trash Torte, a crustless greens and sheep cheese "pie",  features the sweetness of leeks, lots of them together in a loud chorus. There's a slight top and bottom crust: entirely cornmeal. That means it's gluten-free. The pie can be served from the oven, warmed over the next day or at room temperature after you make it. Don't fret it if looks sloppy with greens falling to the side as you cut it. Scoop them back into the cut piece. 
P.S. I made this in a 9" round pan but it would be better in a square one so I am suggesting that below. You choose!
serves 10 
 4 lg leeks
1 lb baby spinach
1 bunch chard
2 lg handfuls arugula, watercress, dandelion or other bitter greens
3/4 lb mixed sheep milk cheeses: sheep milk feta, Manchego, pecorino, ricota salata, manouri
 1/4 c olive oil
2 tbsp fresh dill
1/2 tsp Aleppo or other medium hot ground red pepper 
Coarse and regular sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper to your taste
1 tsp soft butter
1/2 c fine stone-ground yellow corn meal
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp paprika

Trim the top leaves off the leaks, quarter them lengthwise and cut crosswise into 1/2" pieces
Wash thoroughly in a large sieve and drain well. Sprinkle a heaping tsp of coarse salt on them, blend it in and let the leeks soften for 1 hour. 

While that's happening, wash the chard and bitter greens and spinach if it doesn't come pre-washed. Drain thoroughly. Tear the chard leaves from thick stems and chop them. Put the chard in a bowl with a pinch of coarse salt and let them sit 30 minutes to soften. 

Rinse all the veggies with running water and in small batches put them in cheesecloth or a thin towel and squeeze them as dry as you can. If you can, do this over a large bowl to collect their excess moisture. If not, no worries. Just get the leeks and greens as dry as you can.

Heat 2 tbsp of olive oil in a large skillet. Add leeks and cook over medium heat until they start to soften-- 3-4 minutes. Dump them in a large bowl. Heat another tbsp of the oil in the skillet, add the spinach and cook 2 minutes, stirring to get it all down to the heat, til it softens. Put it in the bowl with the leeks. put the last tbsp oil in the skillet and do the same with the chard and bitter greens. Pour them into the bowl with leeks and spinach. 
You can stop here, refrigerate and continue the next day.

Preheat oven to 400º and have a rack in the center. Spread the soft butter all over a shallow 9-10" square  pan. Sprinkle half the cornmeal evenly around the bottom. Sprinkle a little bit of that drying out moisture or else water on the cornmeal--maybe 1/8 tsp at most--to get the cornmeal damp.

Add the dill, ground chili, cheese, salt and pepper to the bowl and blend everything well--your hands are the best tool for this. Gently pour the pie filling into the cornmeal coated pan, smoothing and leveling the top. Sprinkle the remaining cornmeal evenly around the top, lightly pressing it into the filling. Sprinkle the nutmeg and paprika around. Finally sprinkle a tiny bit of hot water on the cornmeal. Now you know why it's sometimes called "sprinkle pie," Paula Wolfert says. (I've varied her version.)

Bake 45-60 minutes, whatever it takes to get a reddish brown crust on the top. Remove from the oven and sprinkle a few drops of tap water on top. Cool at least 20 minutes before cutting in squares with a knife and lifting with a small spatula.

Real Hummus/Tahini with Spiced Lamb

The photo shows the genuine home-cooked hummus/tahini I made topped as it should be with sprinkles of ground cumin and Aleppo pepper. Company came so quickly I never got to photograph the final plate with the lamb and parsley on top. And it disappeared so fast...  If you have time to bother to make the chickpeas from scratch, you will be rewarded with an addictive dish. If you can at least get the skins off canned chickpeas, you'll get a rewarding smooth texture. (You soak them a few minutes then stir them up with your hands and you'll see ghostly skins start to come off.) I served this with flatbread just bought at an Iraqi bakery and the whole combo--cool smooth hummus with hot crispy lamb bits and hearty but thin bread-- was off the goodness charts. P.S. If you've noticed I'm calling this hummus/tahini, it's because hummus is the Arabic word for chickpea, not the dish sold in every deli in America these days.

for the tahini/hummus
If you are NOT using canned chickpeas,
1 c dried chickpeas
1 sm onion, peeled
1 celery stalk
2 bay leaves
Soak the chickpeas in lots of water overnight. Drain and rinse. Put in a large pot with enough water to be 4" over the top. Add the onion, celery and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer, cover pot and cook 45-60 until chickpeas are soft. Toss out the onion, bay leaves and celery. Drain but keep the cooking water. Cool. Run your hands through the chickpeas and you will start to see skins shed. Pull them out and continue as long as you can. It's tedious but worth the effort in the end.


If you are using CANNED chickpeas,
1 14/15 oz can, drained and rinsed but keep the liquid from the can and try to remove skins if you can 
1/4 c good quality tahini
1 lg or 2 sm garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
1/2 tsp coarse salt
1 lg lemon, its juice
2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp Aleppo chili pepper or hot paprika

for the lamb
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1 very sm onion, minced
1/4 lb lamb, cut into tiny bits (you can use ground but the bits effect is MUCH better unless you really break it up well into bits)
3 tbsp pine nuts
freshly ground black pepper to your taste
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp hot paprika or Aleppo pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp best quality olive oil
1/4 c chopped flat leaf parsley

Stir the tahini in the jar to blend the oil into the solids. Put 1/4 c into a food processor, blender or mixing bowl. Add the garlic, salt and lemon juice. Blend until the mixture looks whiter. Add 1/2 c chickpea water and blend. Add all but 1/4 c chickpeas and process until smooth. Taste to adjust for salt or lemon juice. Spread evenly on a shallow plate, top with sprinkles of cumin and hot paprika and let it sit at room temperature at least 1 hour. 

About 15 minutes before you want to serve this, make the lamb.
Heat butter in a medium skillet. With heat at medium/low and add onion and sauté until soft, 2-3 minutes. Add the lamb, raise heat to medium and stirring brown it as much as you can--5-8 minutes. The crispier the better! Add the pine nuts, salt and spices, stirring to blend. Cook another 2 minutes to brown the nuts. 
Distribute the cooked lamb over the top of the hummus. Distribute the remaining chickpeas around and over it. Sprinkle over everything all 1 tbsp best quality olive oil and top the whole dish with the chopped parsley. Serve with pita or flatbread as first course or part of a mezze (small plate) meal or anytime really. 

Kushari
This hearty vegan delight is sometimes called the national dish of Egypt. I think of it as spring cleaning the cupboard. It's made from rice, macaroni, lentils and chickpeas--all the stuff you've had on hand. It strikes me as similar to the wonderful Syrian dish, Burnt Fingers, a conglomeration of lentils, macaroni, fried onions and spices that I've posted before with its actual name harak osbao, which translates into burnt fingers. There's lots of pots here because everything is cooked separately but it's all astonishingly simple.

2 lg yellow onions, thinly sliced into rings
1/4 c flour or cornstarch
1 c brown lentils
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp salt
1 c white rice (medium grain works best but don't be fussy)
2 tsp ground cumin
2 c ditalini or elbow macaroni
1/3 c good olive oil
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

For the sauce
1 tbsp good quality olive oil
6 sm garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground Aleppo pepper or 1/4 tsp cayenne
2 tbsp white vinegar or red wine if you don't have it
2 c tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes with their juice 

Dry the onion rings with paper towels. Put in a bowl and toss with the flour/cornstarch. Set aside.
Get out two medium and one large pot. Put the lentils with the ground cloves and 1 tsp cumin in a medium pot with 1 1/2 c water. Put the rice in the other pot with 1 1/2 c water. Bring both to a boil.
For the lentils, add 1 tsp salt, cover the pot and reduce heat to low. Cook 15 minutes until they are tender. Add water if necessary.
    For the rice, add 1 tsp cumin an 1 tsp salt. Reduce heat to simmer, cover and cook 20 minutes until rice is tender. 
In the large pot cook the pasta according to package instructions. Drain, rinse and set aside.

In a large sauté pan, on medium flame, heat the olive oil. Carefully arrange the onion rings in the pan and fry until they are light brown and very crisp--10-12 minutes. You may have to do this in batches or two pans.

Warm the chickpeas either in the microwave or in a covered saucepan with a bit of water over low heat

In a small saucepan make the sauce by heating the olive oil. Add the garlic, cumin, salt and Aleppo pepper. Stir to blend, then add the vinegar. Cook 30-45 seconds and add the tomato.(If using crushed tomatoes use the back of your spoon to flatten some of them.) Bring to a boil, immediately reduce heat to simmer and cook 10 minutes to thicken. 

To assemble and serve: On a large platter, spread out the pasta. Top it with the rice, then the lentils and chickpeas. 
Now here cooks differ: you can top with the fried onions and serve the sauce on the side OR you can pour some of the sauce over what's on the plate and top with the onions, serving the rest of the sauce on the side.