Eat Your Greens!

Savory Greens and Feta Pie

Great for brunch or supper when you have a ton of greens!

Crust:

1 cup flour

pinch of salt

6 TBS cold butter, cut into pieces

3 TBS ice water

Mix flour and salt in large bowl. Add butter, and mix with your fingers, pinching butter with the flour, trying to coat flour with butter. You can also do this in a food processor, but I get better results with my fingers. When butter is distributed, and your mixture looks like rough cornmeal, add ice water all at once. Stir in the water, and shape the dough into ball, cover with plastic wrap and let the dough rest in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes or overnight.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Roll dough into circle large enough to fit in 9 inch pie pan. Place in pan and crimp edges, To keep the crust from bubbling up, cover with it foil, and spread dry beans or ceramic pie weights on the bottom of the crust, and par bake for 10 minutes.

Filling:

1/2 cup chutney (optional)- nearly any variety would be good- tomato, pear or persimmon

2 Tbs Olive Oil

1 large or 2 small onions, sliced

1 pound mixed greens like kale and collards

3 Eggs, whisked

1 1/2 cups milk

salt and pepper

pinch of nutmeg

Night Sky Feta, drained

Hot Pepper Flakes

Spread chutney over bottom of pie crust. Wash and chop greens into 1 inch pieces. Heat olive oil on medium high heat, add greens when onions are translucent. Saute until greens are bright green and have cooked down. Put mixture in pie plate, spreading out over chutney. Mix eggs and milk with salt, pepper and nutmeg, and pour over greens mixture. Crumble feta on top of mixture, and finish with hot pepper flakes. Cook for 50- 60 minutes, or until center is firm.

Kale with Apples

Serves 4 as a side

Ali of Frog Bottom told me about this dish, and I am so glad! He swears it doesn't need any salt, but I couldn't help adding some.

2TBS butter

1 large or 2 small apples, peeled and coarsely chopped

(about) 10 leaves of kale, chopped into 2 inch pieces, stems removed

pinch of kosher salt- if you wish

Saute apples over medium high heat until slightly soft, about 3 minutes. Add kale several leaves at a time until there is room in the pan for more. Cook just a few minutes until leaves are bright green and slightly wilted. Add salt and enjoy.

White Bean Soup with Tomatoes and Greens

Serves 4

Shannon gave me the recipe for this, which I have long lost. This is my version and one of my favorite soups of all time.

2TBS olive oil

4 large garlic cloves, minced
2 onions, chopped

2 cups chopped cooking greens like kale, collards or mustard

2 cups broth, chicken or vegetable

1 can or 2 cups dried and soaked white (cannellini or navy) beans

1 pint canned tomatoes or 4 medium fresh tomatoes

3 TBS dried herbs like basil, thyme, oregano. parsley

salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil, and saute garlic and onion until soft. Add kale and heat until just wilted. Add rest of ingredients. Simmer 15-20 minutes. Enjoy with crusty bread.