I Sugges this Recipes

Showing posts with label greens. Show all posts

Friday, March 21, 2014

Beans and Greens for Fun and Profit

"Beans and Greens" is one of those special recipes that truly has it all – its very easy and inexpensive to make; its highly nutritious; its soulful and comforting; and can be served as a main course, side dish, soup, vegetable stew, or my personal favorite…as an appetizer.

Its not my favorite because its a great appetizer, which it is, but because its so damn profitable. When I was in culinary school, we were taught the secret to making money wasnt from the main courses, but from selling lots of inexpensive-to-make desserts, salads, and appetizers.
"Beans and Greens" is a popular appetizer in Italian-American restaurants in Western New York, and whenever I travel back east to visit family, Im always on the lookout for this local delicacy. Im usually grinning to myself as I eat, fondly thinking back to school and that food costing class, knowing that Im happily paying $7.95 for something that costs 45 cents to make.

This is my new favorite home version, and uses delicious, beautiful escarole. This type of curly endive has a pleasantly bitter flavor that mellows as it wilts into the hot, creamy beans. This recipe can be adapted a thousand ways, but no matter how you tweak it, be sure to use a good homemade chicken stock (btw, demo coming soon), or an all-natural, high-quality, low-sodium, ready-to-use broth.

If you try reducing some cheap canned broth by half, youll have something salty enough to choke a water buffalo. Also, try and find some nice Italian cannellini beans. I like the ones that come in the glass jars, but canned will work also. If not, any white bean should do nicely.

It goes without saying, but do not even think about starting this recipe unless youve made an embarrassingly large pile of the Parma crisps. I hope you give both recipes a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
2 tablespoon olive oil
4 cloves garlic, sliced thin
1 quart low sodium chicken broth
2 (15-oz) jars or cans white cannellini beans, well drained, not rinsed
pinch of red pepper flakes
1 anchovy fillet
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest
2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano
1 head escarole, or curly endive
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

View the complete recipe

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Ratatouille On Broiled Polenta with Baby Greens

Ratatouille. Yum.

My ratatouille recipe is more postmodern than traditional. But thats why you come here, right? Back in the day when your intrepid GFG was way more geek than goddess (read more high school nostalgia here) ratatouille was one of those popular vegetarian recipes every fledgling Molly Katzen inspired veg-head was stirring up. It was ubiquitous. So when the craze for it hit blogs last year (due to a certain animated movie) I was unmoved to jump on the ratty bandwagon. To me it was so, I dont know. Retro? Old school? Ho-hum?

But wait.

Retro can be fun. And what do I have against eggplant? Um. Nothing. Flash forward to New Mexico, February 2008. Ratatouille simmers in a thick iron skillet. Tasty goodness ensues.

And by the way- the aforementioned film? Its nominated for five Oscars. Stay tuned tonight.

Ratatouille Recipe On Broiled Polenta with Baby Greens

Ill be honest here. My ratatouille changes. (Shocking, I know!) Its never the same recipe twice. This latest incarnation features sliced Baby Bellas instead of zucchini. And olives instead of additional peppers. I served it on a bed of broiled polenta and baby greens drizzled with extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar. If youd like to make more of a traditional ratatouille with squash, see my links below.

Leftover ratatouille can be chilled, then served at room temperature the next day, or reheated. It also makes a snappy appetizer. Process it a bit to make it into a spread. Serve it on triangles of grilled bread (gluten-free, of course).

For my version youll need:

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
5 cloves garlic, chopped
1 large sweet onion, chopped (or two mediums)
4 Japanese eggplants, cut into cubes (or 2 globe eggplants)
2 heaping cups Baby Bella mushrooms, sliced
1 large bell pepper, any color, cored, seeded, chopped
1 14-oz can fire roasted tomatoes (I chose Muir Glen with green chiles for extra heat)
1/2 cup light broth
1/2 cup green or black olives, sliced
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2-3 tablespoons chopped parsley
1-2 teaspoons dried basil
1-2 teaspoons dried Italian Herbs (marjoram, thyme, oregano, rosemary)
Sea salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste

For serving:

Cooked polenta (make your own polenta- see below; or use a pre-made roll of your favorite organic polenta)
A bag of crisp baby greens
Extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar
Optional garnish: crumbles of goat cheese

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

In a large oven-proof skillet heat the olive oil over medium high heat and add the garlic and onion; stir and cook for five minutes. Add the eggplant, mushrooms and pepper; stir and cook for five minutes. Add the tomatoes, broth, olives, balsamic vinegar, parsley, herbs, sea salt and ground pepper. Stir to combine. Bring to a high simmer.

Set the skillet in the oven and roast the veggies for about 30 minutes, until the veggies are very tender. Stir half way through.

In the meantime, prepare your polenta.

Note: If using a roll of polenta, slice the roll into 1/2 inch slices and place in a broiler pan. Brush with olive oil and season with sea salt and ground pepper. Place the pan into the oven and set the temperature to broil; broil until sizzling and slightly browned.

To make the polenta:

1 cup Bobs Red Mill Polenta
4 1/2 cups light broth
Sea salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste

You can also add chopped fresh herbs or grated cheese or non-dairy cheese, such as Daiya Italian style, f desired.

In a large heavy-bottomed pot, bring the broth to a high simmer and pour the cornmeal into the simmering broth in an even, steady stream, whisking as you go. Keep stirring. When the polenta has thickened and is pulling away from the sides of the pot a bit, add in herbs or shredded cheese and season with sea salt and pepper, to taste. This takes about 20 minutes, or so. Remove the pot from the heat.

If you make your polenta ahead of time, you have the option of spooning it evenly into a pie plate or cake pan and letting it cool. This makes a firm polenta you can later slice into wedges and broil (see instructions above for preparing the rolled polenta).

To serve:

Arrange baby greens on four plates. Drizzle with good olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Season with sea salt and fresh ground pepper. Add polenta in the center. Top with the ratatouille.

For those doing cheese, scatter crumbles of goat cheese on top. I didnt add cheese, of course, and to be (again) honest, I didnt miss it one bit.

Serves 4.

More groovy ratatouille goodness:

Dads Ratatouille at Simply Recipes
Kalyns Ratatouille Wanna-Be at Kalyns Kitchen
Alannas Ratatouille at Kitchen Parade
Book of Yums Vegan and Gluten-Free Ratatouille

Susans Roasted Ratatouille at Fatfree Vegan Kitchen