Spring greening

Mother Nature has handed us a green new deal: lots of nutrition loaded greens rising to the occasion of warmth. With stamina to survive a chill and the energy to push through cold, thawing earth, these plants are the perfect tonic. And they're numerous: dandelion greens, pea shoots, shell peas themselves, new spinach, arugula, mustard greens, carrot greens, asparagus, fiddlehead ferns (in a few spots), nettles and parsley. So here are a few timely ways to eat and be well: (Also see the eatin' o the green post for St Patrick's Day and the spearhead asparagus post three weeks ago for more recipes.)

Spring greens with lamb and rice 

This is a quintessential now concoction of newly sprouted greens flavored with bits of ground Spring lamb and fortified with rice. The kiss of fresh lemon juice makes this "health food" bright and tasty to boot. Plus it's relatively fast food--made in 30 minutes. You can use any of the greens mentioned above as well as chard and miner's lettuce, mostly thought of as an annoying lawn weed. The result makes for a light supper.
 serves 4 or more
1 lb mixed spring greens (mustard, spinach, arugula, dandelion, etc) stems off
salt
1-2 tbsp olive oil
1 med onion, diced
1/2 lb ground lamb
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon (a pinch)
1 tbsp tomato paste
Freshly ground black pepper (be heavy handed)
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp dill seed
1/4 c long grain rice
1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

Wash the greens and while still wet put the in a heavy gauge lidded pot with 1/2 c lightly salted water. Cover. Over medium high heat, cook until the greens wilt--about 5 min. Remove from the liquid and save the liquid. Let the greens cool down.  Squeeze as much water as you can out of them and chop.

greens and lamb before rice

In the same pot or a lidded skillet, heat over medium enough oil (1-2 tbsp) to cover the bottom. Add the onion and sauté until soft, 2-3 minutes. Add the lamb, breaking it up and keep cooking until the lamb is lightly browned, another 2-3 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste, lots of ground black pepper, dill seed, allspice, cinnamon and a pinch of salt. Cook stirring another 2-3 minutes. Stir in the chopped greens and rice. Add 1 1/4 cups of the greens cooking liquid. Cover the pot and reduce hat to low. Simmer until the liquid is gone and the rice is cooked, 15-20 minutes. Check occasionally to be sure there is enough liquid in the pot and add more cooking liquid or water by the tablespoon if necessary. Blend in lemon juice. Check and adjust salt and pepper and serve hot.

 Carrot top pesto with pecans and lemon zest
This is me using up the gloriously fresh ferny greens on a bunch of carrots. It took under 5 minutes to make and made me feel virtuous  creating nutritious food from what most people would trash. I used this on pasta and put a dollop on a baked potato. With the pasta, just for the fun of it, I would serve a carrot salad. I've previously posted two of them: my French mother's simple grated carrot and parsley salad and the more flavorful and colorful Korean carrot salad.

1 bunch carrot greens, rinsed off and shaken as dry as possible
2 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
6-8 toasted pecans
handful of fresh cilantro leaves
2 thin strips of lemon peel, cut in thirds
1 tsp dill seed
Freshly ground black pepper
Sea salt to your taste
2 heaping tbsp grated Parmesan, asiago or Manchego cheese
1/2 c good quality olive oil

Remove stems from the carrot greens.
Put everything but the olive oil in a food processor and blend into a paste. Gradually add the oil to loosen it into a sauce. That's it! Store in an airtight container in the fridge if not using right away.
 

Scandinavian chicken in parsley sauce
This is an old recipe that never goes out of style for Spring chicken. Maybe because it also features spring onions, aka scallions. It takes about 5 minutes to prepare and cooks by itself for an hour. If you have a truly organic Spring chicken, this is very nutritious and low cal. Plus kids will like it.
serves 6

8 chicken thighs, skin off
1/4 c olive oil
3 lg garlic cloves, peeled and halved
20 lg parsley sprigs
5 scallions
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to your taste

Arrange the thighs in a single layer in a deep wide skillet. Pour the oil over them and turn them so they are totally coated. Scatter the garlic around. Lay the scallions and parsley on top of the chicken, trying to smother it. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Cover the skillet and simmer over low heat 1 hour.  

Put the chicken on a serving platter. Put everything else in the skillet into a food processor or blender. Puree into a green sauce. Taste and adjust salt and pepper. Pour over the chicken and serve. Great with baked potatoes that go with the sauce and don't add too many calories.
 

Fresh pea "hummus"

You can make smashed peas that kids love, risi e pisi the Italian Spring favorite (rice and peas) or go for this reliably tasty and super easy "hummus" perfect for crostini plain or topped with smoked salmon, as a bed for chunks of ham or grilled swordfish, in a pita pocket with slices of poached chicken breast or leftover salmon and fresh pea shoots, or as a dip. More ideas at the recipe's end.

2 cups shelled peas (more or less 1 lb shelled peas)

2 bunches fresh green onions, roots off and stalks trimmed (do not remove all the stalk)

1 clove garlic, minced

3 tbsp olive oil 

1/3 c chopped fresh flat leaf parsley

1/3 cup chopped fresh mint leaves, another 2 tbsp for garnishing

Freshly ground black pepper to your taste

Sea Salt to your taste

4 oz creamy soft unflavored goat cheese

1/2 cup cooked cannellini beans, drained

pinch of nutmeg

Chop the scallions coarsely.

In a medium/large sauté pan, heat the olive oil over medium flame. Add scallions and garlic and sauté 1 minute or until scallions start to soften. Be careful not to burn garlic. Lower heat if necessary. Add the shelled peas and shake the pan. If it's too dry and they want to stick add another tbsp olive oil. Add 1/2 cup water and cook over medium heat 3-4 minutes until peas start to soften. Add the parsley and cook another minute.  The peas should be soft but not soggy or losing color. Drain off any excess water and pour the contents of the pan into a food processor. (if you have an immersion blender you can keep the peas in the pot, okay). Add the mint, salt, pepper, goat cheese and beans. Quickly puree into a thick paste. If it's too thick, add a tbsp or two of olive oil. Sprinkle on a pinch of nutmeg.

That's it.  You can serve this with or on sliced cucumbers--a very cooling dish. You can spread more creamy goat cheese on a slice of baguette and top it with a smear of the pea hummus and a sprinkling of chopped mint leaves. You can use this to fill radicchio leaves--the lower half or smear it on a lavash, top with mascarpone and salmon roe, then roll up the lavash into a large cigar. Now cut it into serving size pieces. In a pinch you can just stick a spoon in and enjoy all the freshness of spring.

Spinach Pie (without the filo)

I created this about 20 years ago when I was invited to a flour free Seder. I had made hundreds of real Greek spanakopita in my catering years and always wanted to know if it could be made without all that butter and fussy pastry.  Well here it is! Everybody loves this.

Serves 8

10-12 oz fresh spinach leaves (2 bunches), stemmed, washed and dried

½ lb feta cheese

2 bunches scallions (12-14)

1 bunch dill, stems off

¼-1/2 tsp salt

¼ tsp freshly ground or cracked black pepper

6 extra large or 7 large eggs

1 tsp olive oil

¼ tsp flour or fine bread crumbs

¼ tsp ground nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350º.

In a food processor, chop a mixture of spinach, feta, scallions and dill into fine pieces. You will probably have to do this in batches.  Combine all batches in a large mixing bowl. Add salt (less if the feta is already salty) and pepper. Add eggs, carefully blending. Everything should appear to be wet.

Coat a 10” pie plate or other baking dish with olive oil. Sprinkle flour around the bottom to absorb any juices.  Pour in the spinach mixture and spread evenly, leveling the top. This should be even with the top of the pan. If there is extra, pack it into a small (3½”) Pyrex bowl coated with olive oil. Sprinkle the top with nutmeg.

Bake in the center of the oven at 350º 30-35 minutes, until the top is firm. (The mini will cook in 16-20 minutes.) Cool slightly before serving. You can also serve this at room temperature. Either way, cut in wedges. (Invert the mini and serve as an individual timbale, if you’d like.)