Classic Greek Horta Greens

Serves 5-6

2 lbs of Greens:
Suggestions of Greens to choose from:
Swiss Chard
Kale
Spinach
Dandelion – (Here in the United States, I’ve found that the white or green stemmed dandelions and especially the younger/shorter ones are less bitter than the red stems).
Feel free to combine different greens as well.
(Whenever possible buy organic greens to avoid ingesting the pesticides – if not available soak and rinse greens several times)
1 1/2 cups of water
Extra Virgin Olive oil
Salt to taste
2 lemons
(optional – 1 teaspoon granulated garlic powder)
Cut the Greens into bite size pieces. Wash several times in bowl with water to remove any soil. If using kale with thick stems tear the leaves off the stems and discard stems.
In a large pot, add water, bring to a boil and add greens. Cover. Boil until stems and leaves are soft depending upon which greens you use. Check after 10 minutes by tasting to see if greens are tender and continue up to 20 minutes. Add more water if needed. Strain water from greens and return to pot. Add juice of two lemons, one turn of olive oil, salt and mix. Let sit for a few minutes in warm pot with flame turned off. Serve on plate or in bowl.
This makes 5 to 6 servings. Make extra since it tastes delicious the next day.
Dandelion Leaves Tip: If you want to make dandelion greens only (a bitter green) – use younger leaves if possible. Whatever length you use, I have found that by cooking dandelion greens in a steamer you reduce bitterness and follow directions to season with lemon, olive oil and salt above while still hot. Dandelion also taste milder when combined with another milder green such as Swiss Chard.
Source

Potato, Spinach, and Goat Cheese Quiche

Serves 6
1 recipe pie crust (for single crust pie)
2 tablespoons butter
1 small onion, finely chopped (about 1/2 cup)
1 medium Yukon Gold potato, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 1 1/2 cups)
10 ounces frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed of all excess liquid
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
5 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup fresh goat cheese
Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat to 400°F. Roll out pie dough and place in a 9-inch pie plate. Gently prick pie dough all over with a fork making sure that you don't fully puncture the dough. Cover with foil, weight down with pie weights, and refrigerate for 15 minutes. Place in the oven and bake until browned, about 15 minutes. Remove from oven and reserve. Meanwhile, melt butter in a medium skillet over medium high heat. Add onion and cook, stirring, until beginning to brown, about 4 minutes. Add potato, toss to combine, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until potato is tender, about 8 minutes. Add drained spinach and season with salt and pepper to taste. Transfer spinach mixture to pie crust. Whisk together eggs and milk then pour over spinach mixture. Dot with goat cheese, pressing the cheese into the quiche so that it's covered with egg mixture. Place in the oven and bake until quiche is puffy and beginning to brown in spots, about 35 minutes. Allow to cool before slicing and serving.
Source

Spinach Recipe

Serves 4 
2 large bunches of spinach, about 1 lb
Olive oil, extra virgin
3 cloves garlic, sliced
Salt to taste
Cut off the thick stems of the spinach and discard. Clean the spinach by filling up your sink with water and soaking the spinach to loosen any sand or dirt. Drain the spinach and then repeat soaking and draining. Put the spinach in a salad spinner to remove any excess moisture. Heat 2 Tbsp olive oil in a large skillet on medium high heat. Add the garlic and sauté for about 1 minute, until the garlic is just beginning to brown. Add the spinach to the pan, packing it down a bit if you need to with your hand. Use a couple spatulas to lift the spinach and turn it over in the pan so that you coat more of it with the olive oil and garlic. Do this a couple of times. Cover the pan and cook for 1 minute. Uncover and turn the spinach over again. Cover the pan and cook for an additional minute. After 2 minutes of covered cooking the spinach should be completely wilted. Remove from heat. Drain any excess moisture from the pan. Add a little more olive oil, sprinkle with salt to taste. Serve immediately.
Source

Green Monster Smoothie

2.5 cups spinach
2.5 cups kale
1 cup 100% carrot juice
1 inch ginger root
2 kiwis, small/medium sized
¼ cup blueberries
4 tablespoons ground flaxseed
½ cup water
Add the carrot juice, kiwi, blueberries, flaxseeds, and ginger root to a blender. Blend until everything is well incorporated. Then add the spinach and kale a handful at a time, blending after each handful. Add water and blend everything for a minute or so, making sure that the texture is smooth. Serve immediately or store in a sealed container (mason jars work great for this) and refrigerate for up to 12 hours.
Source

Turnip and Baby Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Vinaigrette

2 bunches baby turnips with greens (about 1 1/2 pounds), trimmed, greens reserved, turnips cut into 1-inch pieces
1/4 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
2 teaspoons sherry vinegar
2 teaspoons grainy mustard
4 cups baby spinach, washed well
1 ounce bacon (about 2 slices), thinly sliced crosswise
1 shallot, minced
2 tablespoons pecans, toasted and coarsely chopped
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Toss turnips with oil and 1/2 teaspoon salt on a rimmed baking sheet. Roast, tossing after 15 minutes, until golden brown and tender, about 35 minutes. Whisk together vinegar, mustard, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Wash turnip greens well, and tear into 3-inch pieces. Toss greens with spinach. About 5 minutes before turnips are finished roasting, heat a small high-sided skillet over medium-high heat. Cook bacon, stirring, until crisp, 4 to 5 minutes. Add shallot, and cook until soft, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in vinegar mixture. Fold warm bacon vinaigrette into greens, and divide evenly among 4 plates. Top with roasted turnips and pecans.
Source

Detox Sweet Potatoes with Quilites and Spinach

2 medium sweet potatoes
½ tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, sliced thin
1 bunch quilites, washed, stemmed and chopped
1 bunch spinach, washed, stemmed and chopped (about 3 cups)
salt
sliced avocado, optional

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prick sweet potatoes with a fork and bake until tender, about 45 minutes. Slice onion and greens while heating a large pan over medium heat. Add olive oil. Once hot, add onion and cook until slightly caramelized, about 10-15 minutes. Add collard greens and spinach and cook, stirring, until wilted, about 5 minutes. Add salt to taste. Serve potatoes split and topped with a mountain of greens and sliced avocado, if using. More salt, pepper, cayenne or a squeeze of lemon optional.

Adapted from: Source

Simple, Comforting Stew: Spinach, Carrots and Rice

I bypassed this recipe because, by nature, I tend to look for recipes that are intriguing and innovative (through the use of various combinations of ingredients and flavors), but I had to remind myself that this is what I need more of: simple, quick dinner ideas that highlight CSA veggies!

The recipe comes from Mark Bittman (the King of simple, straightforward recipes) and he indicates you can add some heft to the meal by adding some meat (leftover roast chicken, etc.) and enhance the seasonings to suit your taste (dill, cilantro, cumin, etc. would be tasty).


1/2 pound carrots, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch dice
1/2 cup long-grain rice, like Basmati
Salt and pepper
1 pound fresh spinach, thick stems removed, washed and roughly chopped
3 cloves minced garlic, optional
2 tablespoons butter, optional

1. Combine carrots with 6 cups of water (or broth) in a saucepan and turn heat to high. Bring to a boil, then stir in rice and a large pinch of salt. When the mixture returns to the boil, add spinach, then adjust heat so that it simmers gently.
2. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the rice and carrots are very tender, about 1/2 hour, and the mixture takes on the consistency of a thick stew. Stir in garlic or butter (if you're using either or both), and cook another 5 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning and serve.

Chicken and Greens with Coriander

I haven't tried this dish yet, but it sounds delightfully simple! Served with a side of wheat berry pilaf it would make a complete meal.

Note: it seems like it calls for an awful lot of coriander; I would suggest starting out with 3 TEAspoons, in case it was a typo and go up from there.


Adapted from the Smithsonian Folklife Cookbook

1 large clove garlic, minced
¼ cup olive oil
1 whole chicken, boiled and removed from bone
2 cups chopped spinach, chard, beet greens, etc.
¼ cup lemon juice
1 Tbs salt
3 Tbs ground coriander
1 ½ cups water
1 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)

Saute garlic in olive oil. Add remaining ingredients and simmer for 30 minutes.

Vegetable Lentil Soup

Here's a delicious vegetarian recipe that will use up all the extra veggies in your crisper drawer.

Essential ingredients:

1/2 large yellow onion
3-5 carrots (about 1.5 cups chopped)
4 celery stalks (about 1.5 cups chopped)
4-6 cloves garlic
1 TBSP thyme leaves
1 tsp oregano
2 bay leaves
2 16 oz cans tomatoes plus juice
1 cup green or brown lentils, rinsed
1.5-2 liters stock (I used mushroom but chicken or beef would work as well as a non-vegetarian option)
Olive oil

Optional ingredients - use whatever you have on hand and would like in the soup. This is what I had:

1 red bell pepper
3/4 c. flat-leafed parsley
1/4 c. freshly shelled peas
6 i'itoi (green) onions, white and green parts
2 cups chopped greens - I used mizuna but kale or chard would work nicely too

Chop the veggies ahead of time and keep in separate piles.

Put about 2 TBSP olive oil into a large soup pot. Heat until the oil starts to shimmer, then add the onion, carrot and celery to the oil. Cook on medium heat until the carrots start to soften; about 7 minutes. Stir often. The vegetables should sweat, not brown.

Add the garlic, thyme, oregano and optional veggies (minus greens) to the pot. Cook, stirring often, for about three minutes, until you can smell the garlic cooking.

Add the stock and lentils to the pot. Chop the tomatoes and add them and the juice from both cans*. Stir it all together and add the bay leaves. Poke them down into the liquid.

Cover and bring the soup to a boil and reduce heat to simmer. Cook for 45 minutes, then check the lentils for tenderness. Cook longer if needed. Once the lentils are tender, season the soup to taste with salt** and cracked pepper. Fish out the bay leaves and discard them. Add the greens to the pot. Cover and cook for another 20 minutes.

*This is very much a tomato-based soup. If you don't want such strong tomato flavor, reduce to one can and add two more cups stock to the recipe.
**Add salt at the very end. If it is added earlier in cooking, the lentils will be tough.

Serve with a salad and hot bread with butter. YUM.

What else would work well in this soup? Turnips, added with the greens. Kohlrabi, added with the 2nd batch of veggies. Spinach, added about five minutes before serving. 1/4 c. wheat berries, added with the lentils.

It's a versatile recipe! Enjoy!

Lemon Cilantro Salad Dressing

I whipped up a quick and tasty salad dressing last night to go with a beautiful salad I brought to a dinner party. I wish I had taken a picture because it was colorful! The salad featured salad greens, spinach and purple cabbage from last week along with some red bell pepper, yellow carrots and avocado. I topped it off with a sprinkling of black sesame seeds. I wanted to use some of the fine cilantro we got last week, so I decided to use it in the dressing along with our beautiful lemons. My inspiration for this dressing came from the Tucson CSA's newsletter from last week. The author, Lorraine Glazar of the Tucson CSA, gives substitution ideas depending on what herbs and/or citrus you might have on hand. Click on the link to see what they are. I left out the mustard because I didn't have it in the fridge and I added sun-dried tomatoes because I love them just a little too much. Enjoy!

lemon (juice and zest it)
1/4 c. oil ( I used about 2/3 Queen Creek Extra-Virgin olive oil and 1/3 hemp seed oil)
3-4 T. fine cilantro
1 clove garlic
4 sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil and herbs
splash white wine vinegar
salt and pepper

Blend the ingredients in food processor or blender until the herbs are finely chopped and distributed through the dressing. Adjust seasonings to your liking.

Wheat Berry Salad with Citrus, Garbanzos, Toasted Pine Nuts, Feta and Spinach

So, another wheat berry recipe. I can't help it, I really like them! And, at last week's pick-up I noticed the trade box was pretty full of these guys, so I'm assuming CSA peeps are a little unsure on how to cook and eat these delicious morsels. I made a delightful salad the other day and I wanted to share it with all you lovely readers.

Anyway, this is a recipe I modified from Heidi Swanson's cookbook Super Natural Cooking. I added chickpeas for some more protein, subbed I'itoi onion for the shallot, added garlic, and added some chopped sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil for some color and taste. I also chopped up half an avocado on top because I love avocado on most food, especially salads. The citrus dressing was okay. Her recipe didn't call for white wine vinegar, but it needed a little kick. She had called for some lemon juice in the dressing, but I didn't have one. This salad would probably be great with any simple vinaigrette you had lying around the house.

1 1/2 c. cooked wheat berries

1 c. cooked garbanzo beans (white beans might be nice too)

Citrus Dressing

Grated zest and juice of 1 orange (maybe use grapefruit for an interesting twist)

couple tablespoons of white wine vinegar

1 I'itoi onion, chopped

1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil

1 clove chopped garlic

salt and pepper

3 handfuls spinach

1/2 cup toasted pine nuts

1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

sun dried tomatoes, chopped

avocado, chopped

You need to soak wheat berries overnight and cook them for about 90 min. to get them soft enough to eat. I used dried garbanzos, which also need to soak and cook for about 2 hours. You could use canned if you like. I ate the salad with warm wheat berries and beans, but it would be good cold as well. Mix up the dressing. Then, combine the dressing with the wheat berries, beans and the rest of the ingredients. Add salt and pepper to taste.

In hindsight, I had leftovers and probably would have put the dressing on individually so it wouldn't get soggy in the fridge. These would feed about 3-4 as a main dish for lunch.

Wheat Berry Chili

It was cold, snowy and windy Saturday here in Flagstaff and I definitely had a craving for a thick, yummy and spicy stew. I thought a stew would be a perfect vehicle for the wheat berries we got last week and I was right! They are sweet, earthy and chewy and provide great texture in a vegetarian chili. Wheat berries remind me of barley, and like barley, are a great source of dietary fiber. This recipe makes enough for about 4 hungry people.

Before starting the recipe, I soaked a 1/2 c. of wheat berries in 4 c. of water overnight. I also soaked the pinto, black and kidney beans overnight in enough water to cover by 5 in.

Ingredients:

1/2 c. wheat berries, soaked

1/2 c. black beans, soaked

1/2 c. pinto beans, soaked

1/4 c. kidney beans, soaked

1/2 onion, chopped

1 portobello mushroom, sliced

1 serrano chile pepper, diced

3 cloves garlic, chopped

3 chipotle peppers in adobo, chopped

1 14.5 oz can Muir Glen Fire Roasted Tomatoes

1/2 head spinach, chopped or torn (any winter green would work nicely here)

chile powder

salt to taste

olive oil

For the topping:

sharp cheddar cheese, grated

avocado

cilantro

blue corn chips

To Prepare:

I cooked the wheat berries in the same water I soaked them in. I boiled them on a low flame for about an hour. I kept tasting them to see if they were done. They should taste chewy, but not hard. Drain and set aside. After soaking overnight, I drained the beans and cooked them in about 6 c. of fresh water over a low flame for about 2-2 1/2 hours. Again, taste and check for doneness. If you had a pressure cooker, you could save time here or use canned beans. Once the beans were done cooking, I drained them (reserving the bean water) and left about a cup of their cooking water still in the pot. To this I added the wheat berries and the can of tomatoes. I happened to have some leftover quinoa from the previous night and I threw that in as well. I put this on a low simmer. While that was simmering, I sauteed the onion, serrano, chipotle, garlic, portobello mushroom in some olive oil and salt. When that was done cooking, I added it to the pot of beans. Then I added the spinach. I threw in a little chile powder and some salt to taste. If the stew looks too thick, you could thin it out with some of the reserved bean water. I let it simmer for another 15-20 minutes to let the flavors combine. I served it garnished with grated cheddar cheese, avocado and cilantro. I also added some blue corn tortilla chips for scooping.

This stew definitely satisfied my craving! It was warming, hearty and delicious. I tend to like things spicy, so adjust the flavors to suit your preference.