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.
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Swiss Chard and Potatoes

Serves 6
1 lb Swiss chard, washed
2 lbs potatoes (red, white, or otherwise), peeled and cut into a 1 inch dice
1/2 tsp salt
3 Tbs butter or olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
2 spring onions, sliced
salt and pepper, to taste
2-3 Tbs beer, white wine vinegar - if necessary, to deglaze the pan, optional
Trim the Swiss chard: run a sharp knife along the both sides of the stem to remove the leaves. (Suggestion: stack 3-4 like-sized stems together and run the knife through all at once to speed things along). Chop the stems into 1/2 inch pieces.  Stack and slice the leaves into 1/4 -1/2 inch ribbons. Place potatoes in a large pot.  Cover by two inches with water.  Add 1/2 tsp salt.  Bring to a boil.  Partially cover and reduce heat to medium. Simmer for 3 minutes.  Add chard leaves and stems. Bring back to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium and partially cover again for about 10 min, or until potatoes are tender. Drain potatoes and chard. Melt butter or heat olive oil in 12 inch skillet over medium heat.  Stir in the garlic and red pepper flakes.  Cook 1-2 minutes, or garlic is fragrant. Toss in the potatoes and chard (be careful for any sizzle due to the moisture in the potato mixture).  Stir in the green onions.  Season with salt and pepper. Cook untouched 4-5 minutes.  Stir, scraping any bits off the bottom of the pan. Cook another 4-5 minutes, or until everything is well cooked. If some of your potatoes have cooked to the bottom of the pan (heat varies between electric and gas, and when you add the moisture of the potatoes and chard, sometimes things get...sticky.  That's all fine in this dish, though - that's extra added flavor), add the optional beer or white wine vinegar now.  Stir to scrape any yummy flavorful bits from the bottom of the pan.  If your potatoes release well, you can skip this part if you'd like. Taste, and season again with salt and pepper, if necessary.
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White Bean and Swiss Chard Soup

Serves 8
1 large carrot, finely chopped
1 large onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 bunch swiss chard, rinsed and roughly chopped
6 cup vegetable broth
1 15.5oz (439g) small white beans (or navy beans)
salt and pepper to taste
In a large pot over high heat add olive oil, garlic, onions and carrots. Cook for about 5 minutes, until onions are translucent. Add swiss chard and cook for 3 minutes. Add broth, bring to boil, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Add beans, stir and cover. Cook for 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Serve hot.
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Guadalajaran Swiss Chard Quesadillas

Serves 4
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 small onion, chopped ( 3/4 C)
2 garlic cloves, minced ( 2 tsp)
1 jalapenos or 1 serrano chili, minced
1/4 teaspoon cumin seed
1/8 teaspoon oregano
1/4 cup tequila
12 ounces swiss chard, trimmed
8 (6 inch) corn tortillas
1 cup light monterey jack cheese, grated
Heat oil in pot over medium heat; add onion and saute 5 minutes, until golden. Stir in garlic, chile, cumin and oregano, and saute 2 minutes. Add tequila and simmer 1 minute, or until liquid has evaporated. Stir in chard; cover; reduce heat to medium low, and steam 5 minutes, or until chard wilts. Uncover, and cook 3 minutes or until liquid has evaporated. Place 1 tortilla in skillet over medium heat. Sprinkle with 1/4 C cheese; top with chard mixture and second tortilla. Cook 2 minutes per side, or until browned. Repeat with remaining ingredients. Slice into wedges and serve.

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Swiss Chard Pancakes

This makes a lot of pancakes, but they freeze perfectly, so I always make the full recipe. If you think this is going to be too much for you, cut the recipe in half and use 1 egg and 1 yolk.
2 cups whole milk
2½ cups all-purpose flour
3 large eggs
1 small onion, coarsely chopped
1 shallot, coarsely chopped, rinsed, and patted dry
2 garlic cloves, split, germ removed, and coarsely chopped
Leaves from 10 parsley sprigs
10 fresh chives, snipped
Salt and freshly ground pepper
5 large or 10 small Swiss chard leaves, center ribs removed, washed, and dried
About ½ cup grapeseed, peanut, or vegetable oil
Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with foil, and line a plate with paper towels. Put everything except the Swiss chard and oil in a blender or food processor, making sure you season the mix generously with salt and pepper, and whir until the batter is smooth. (If your machine won't handle this quantity, work in batches.) Little by little, add the chard to the mix and whir to incorporate it. There's no need to pulverize the chard — having some strands is nice. Pour ¼ to ½ inch of oil into a large skillet and place the skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot (a drop of batter should seize immediately), spoon in a scant ¼ cup batter for each pancake — don't crowd the pan: depending on the size of the pan, 4 pancakes is probably max per batch. Cook the pancakes for about 3 minutes, until the underside is nicely browned and the edges are browned and curled. Flip the pancakes over and cook for another 2 minutes or so. Transfer the pancakes to the paper-towel-lined plate, cover with more towels, and pat off the excess oil. Place them on the foil-lined baking sheet and keep warm in the oven while you continue to make pancakes, adding more oil to the pan as needed.
Serving:Traditionally, farçous are served with a salad as a main course, but you could serve fewer per portion as a starter or omit the salad and serve them as a side dish. If you want to serve thefarçous as an hors d'oeuvre, you might want to include a dipping sauce or topping of crème fraîche,cervelle de canut, or plain yogurt. You might also think about drizzling them with a little basil or parsley coulis— they don't really need the coulis, but it's a good combination.
Storing:You can make the farçous a few hours ahead, keep them covered at room temperature, and reheat them in a conventional oven or microwave before serving. Or you can pack them airtight (make sure to separate them with small squares of wax or parchment paper) and freeze them, then reheat as needed.
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Santa Salsa

1 bunch raw red-stemmed chard, stemmed and chopped
5 roasted green chiles, skinned, deveined, seeded, and chopped
1 serrano chile with seeds, minced
1 clove garlic, mashed with salt
2-4 tablespoons leftover cranberry sauce
juice of half a lime
orange juice

Start to puree everything but the orange juice in a food processor or blender. With the machine running, add enough orange juice (about 1/4 cup) for a nice salsa consistency. Taste and add salt if necessary.

From Gretchen

Swiss chard on the side

This is one of my favorite ways to prepare Swiss chard. It goes wonderfully with your favorite main course - perhaps some grilled chicken or fish and a side of rice. Anything, really.

2 carrots, peeled and grated
2 large cloves garlic, minced
3-4 I'itoi onions, the whites cut into 1/8" slices and the greens into 2" sections
1 large bunch Swiss chard, washed, large stems removed, chopped
olive Oil
crushed red pepper flakes
salt & pepper

Heat a large skillet over medium heat, and add about a tablespoon of olive oil. Add the carrots and onions, and cook until both are soft, stirring frequently. Add the garlic and a couple shakes of red pepper flakes (about 1/8-1/4 tsp). Cook, stirring, until the aroma of the garlic is released. You don't want to brown the garlic, just cooked until soft.

Add the Swiss chard and stir until it becomes wilted. Turn the heat down to low, add a couple teaspoons of water, and cover. Cook for about five minutes longer. Sprinkle with a bit of salt and pepper (if desired), and it is ready to serve.

Lamb with Lentils and Chard

Here's a delicious crock pot recipe for your CSA lamb, carrots, lentils and chard. You can use lamb stew meat, or shoulder roast or chops cut into 1" cubes.

The recipe is adapted out of The Healthy Slow Cooker by Judith Finlayson. I cut it in half - the original recipe serves 10.

2-4 TBSP olive oil
1 pound trimmed lamb stew, 1" chunks
1 onion, finely chopped
4 carrots, peeled and sliced
2 stalks celery, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp herbs de Provence (I used rosemary, thyme, oregano, basil)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cracked black peppercorns
1 bay leaf
1 1/2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
16 oz can tomatoes, coarsely chopped, with juice
1 cup green or brown lentils, rinsed
4 cups Swiss chard, stemmed and chopped

Brown the lamb in a single layer in a hot skillet. Do this in 2-3 batches, adding oil as needed. Transfer the batches to the crock pot as they finish.

Cook the carrots, celery and onions in the skillet. Stir often and cook until the carrots start to soften (about 7 minutes). Add the garlic, herbs, salt and pepper to the other veggies, and stir for about a minute. Add the bay leaf, chicken broth and tomatoes and juice to the skillet and bring to a boil. Transfer to the crock pot. Add the lentils and stir.

Cook on low for 5-6 hours, until the lamb and lentils are tender. Add the chard in batches, stirring it in until it wilts, then adding more until it's all in the crock. Cover and cook on low for another 30 minutes or until the chard is tender.

Serve with crusty bread or on a bed of rice.

Green Stir Fry

We received some really beautiful greens this week as you can tell by these photos, courtesy of CSA volunteer Jo. I tend to make a big, green stirfry when we get a batch of greens because it's easy to throw together and is always delicious. I tend to use whatever veggies I have in my fridge and I serve it atop a nice bowl of quinoa.

Here is the recipe I used last Thursday:

1/2 head broccoli, cut into spears

2 portobello mushrooms, sliced

1/2 red onion, sliced

1/2 bunch swiss chard, chopped

1/2 head tat soi, chopped

1/4 head Chinese cabbage, chopped

handful snow peas

1 package firm tofu, cubed and lightly fried

Sauce:

I definitely eyeball this sauce so I don't know my exact meaurements, but adjust it to your preference of heat.

1/4 c. Bragg's liquid aminos

2 tsp. red Thai curry paste

big squirt of Sriracha hot chili sauce

chopped garlic

fresh ginger, grated

1 T. of olive oil

some cornstarch or arrowroot powder dissolved in H20 to help thicken the sauce

To Prepare:

Heat some oil in a wok or frying pan. Fry up your longer cooking veggies first. I threw in broccoli and the portobellos. Then in went the onion and the stems of the chard, tat soi and cabbage. Then in went the greens, snow peas and the tofu I had already cooked. When everything is cooked, pour the sauce on top and heat through until the sauce has thickened. This recipe made two hearty servings for two with enough leftover for lunch the next day. Yum!