Spanakopita

Spanakopita is a substantial vegetarian dish readily available in Greece, particularly during Lent. This is a great dish to make when you have too many leafy greens, especially if you have a combination of different types. During Lent this is made with sauteed leafy greens, oregano, dill, mint, onions, and garlic in a phyllo crust. During the rest of the year, eggs and feta are often added to the greens mixture. When I don't have feta, I've made a great Americanized version with cottage cheese.

 

Beans and Greens: Vegetarian Iron

Beans and greens don't seem to photograph well, but they taste fabulous and are an excellent source of vegetarian iron. Plant sources of iron can be difficult for the body to absorb, but something about the bean and the green together makes it happen. Go team!

Kale and White Beans - this is a classic Tuscan combo, though I suppose in Tuscany they use cannellini and lacinato kale, where as I've just used great northern beans and regular kale. Saute your kale with garlic and onion in olive oil, then add cooked beans and parm at the end with some salt and pepper to taste. Perfect comfort food.
 

This was a bit of an experiment on the same theme and it turned out fairly well though I won't rely on it as I do the kale white bean combo. This is Gumbo z'Herbs, popular in Louisiana during Lent when many Catholics traditionally abstained from meat. There are some really complicated recipes out there, but mine is just mustard greens, sauteed with onions, garlic, smoked paprika, some Tony Chachere's creole seasoning with black eyed peas and vegetable broth.
 

Broccoli Rabe from the Farmer's Market

Young broccoli raab or rabe (also called rapini) is more verstile than the mature version (pronounced RAH-PAY in Italiano, I won't be writing the english word here) and can be simply steamed and served or added to pasta, soup or anything a green would be good with. In fact you can probably get away with not cooking it at all. It's older counterpart, needs to be blanched before serving, it's heartier and a bit bitter. Frances Mayes actually described it as Italian soul food (a reference to collards? She is Southern) and the kind of food that has so much nitrogen it makes you feel instantly better after you eat it. Mature rabe great with red pepper and parmesan on pasta. How to tell which one you have purchased? Stem size. The mature version has a thicker stem almost like Broccolette. Try as I might, I can't seem to grow the stuff, so I've been relying on the farmer's market to get it.

We enjoyed rapini steamed with salt, pepper and olive oil on top. If i had a lemon, i would have squeezed a wedge worth of juice on here - Linsey and I had it this way only cold instead of hot at Via Tribulani, it was really good.
 

I also thought the rapini was good served steamed along side a fried egg, one of my favorite ways to enjoy greens. I might be getting repetative with my love of fried eggs, but seriously EVERYTHING is better with an egg on top.
 

Later I bought a more mature bunch and made a barley porcini risotto with it. So good.