St. Patrick’s Day Since we’re all pretty much self-isolating now, how about we focus on sharing the greens rather than wearing the greens for St. Patrick’s Day. Below we have some side dishes that will make meal prepping at home a little easier and also a list of suggestions for supporting your local small businesses that are being hit really hard during this tumultuous time. Eat’n ‘O the Greens For the first of our meal prep recipes, we’re starting with two side dishes that make meal prepping a little easier. It’s important to balance out any comfort foods you’re working around with vegetables like spinach, kale, or other leafy greens. Flashed Greens really popular at our restaurants and are a simple way to add veggies to a meal (from our current cookbook.) We’ve also included our recipe for Autumn Roasted Vegetables from our original (and out-of-print) 2002 cookbook. Tomorrow, we’ll focus on proteins to add to your meals and later in the week, desserts.
Flashed Greens Yield: 6 servings Ingredients:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
3 cloves garlic, minced (or 3/8 teaspoon garlic powder)
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger (or ¼ teaspoon ground ginger)
1 pound fresh kale
1 pound baby spinach
1–2 tablespoons water
salt and pepper to taste In a large skillet over medium heat, warm the oil. As soon as the oil becomes hot, add the garlic and ginger and stir. Immediately add the kale to prevent the garlic and ginger from burning. Stir well and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the spinach and stir for 1 to 2 minutes more. Add the water and remove from the heat. Add the salt and pepper and stir. Set aside, covered, for 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to a serving bowl and serve immediately. Cook’s Notes:
Pull the kale from the stalk with your hands and massage the greens to reduce bitterness and increase tenderness. You can save the stems and sauté them in a separate skillet with ½ cup chopped onion for 7 to 9 minutes, until the onion in translucent, to bulk up your greens. Kale is also available pre-chopped and washed in bags. You won’t be able to separate the leaves from the stems in a pre-chopped bag so we suggest doubling the water and cook it a few minutes longer while covered before adding the more delicate greens like spinach. Then turn off the heat. Variations:
Brighten up this recipe by sprinkling the finished greens with 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and/or a sprinkle of red pepper flakes (to taste). You can use any kind of greens in this recipe such as mustard greens or chard. Autumn Roasted Vegetables Yield: 12 servings Ingredients:
½ pound parsnips, peeled and quartered
½ pound carrots, peeled and sliced
2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 pounds onions, chopped
6 to 8 cloves of garlic
2 pounds white potatoes
splash of olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
splash of balsamic vinegar
½ cup chopped fresh parsley Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly toss vegetables with oil, salt, and pepper then spread on baking sheets. This recipe makes a lot so it make take several baking sheets. Bake until they are soft yet firm enough so they don’t fall apart. Cool slightly, place in large bowl and drizzle with a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar, if desired. Sprinkle with parsley before serving. Cook’s Notes:
This is a great recipe for making a large batch of vegetables that can be added to meals throughout the week. That’s why it’s good for meal prepping. Store them in an air-tight container (or several) in the fridge. If you don’t have fresh parsley, dried will do but halve the amount. You can also experiment with other dried herbs that are your favorites like thyme, rosemary, and basil. | 