Quick spring greens

I like spring greens but they can be a bit rough especially compared to spinach. However, I found a recipe for quick collard greens which sounded great. I adapted it for spring greens and the result was very tasty. Hubby and kid had it with pork sausages and mash. I just gobbled it up with the mash.

Ingredients:

• 350g spring greens – this was around 3 bunches
• Water to cover the greens
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 10g butter
• 1 small onion diced finely
• 2 garlic cloves sliced thinly
• 1 tsp grated ginger
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp crushed red dried chillies
• Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

• Boil enough water to cover the greens – I used about 2 pints
• Discard the mangy greens that are normally around the bunch.
• For the remainder, pull each leaf off the bunch, wash it then remove each leaf and cut out the stem along the middle. Chop into 1 cm slices and put into the pan of water

Cooking: 

• Boil the greens for a few minutes until the leaves begin to wilt. Turn off the water. Scoop out a couple of ladles of the water and set aside as you will use again.
• (I poured the rest of the water out to use to boil potatoes for mash)
• In a large heavy based saucepan or frying pan pour in olive oil and butter. Once butter melts add in the ginger and greens.
• Stir for a minute or so.
• Add the garlic slices, cumin, cinnamon and a ladle or two of water.
• Cook until the water evaporates. If cooking for children remove a portion now then add the chili, salt and pepper to taste to the remainder. Stir through and heat for a minute.
• Serve with mash and sausages.

Spicy brussel sprouts

Let’s face it, the brussel sprout is a bit evil. They can easily turn to mush and taste horrific.  They most definitely have never  left me salivating in anticipation. But they are currently in season, are Scottish grown and hey, like all brassica, are good for you . Last night around 3am when I couldn’t sleep I had an epiphany and decided to overcome my aversion to B.S. with a smattering of spice. A quick google (who knew this was a verb!) led to the delicious sounding Spicy brussel sprouts with leeks and curry leaves. I made a few changes. Perhaps I should have stuck to the original recipe as frankly, the results were not overwhelming. I thought it was alright for a first attempt but hubby  felt something extra was needed so I quickly roasted a papad for him. Also, we both agreed that it didn’t go well with rice. Next time I’ll serve it with rotlis or paratha and some pickles. I may also stick in some ghee and roasted chestnuts. I’m still not convinced about BS and peanuts though.

Ingredients:

• 2 tbs groundnut oil (future improvement will be 1 tbs oil and 1tbs ghee)
• 1 tsp mustard seeds and a few fenugreek seeds
• Pinch of asafoetida (I forgot about this completely. I don’t think it’s essential)
• 1 leek trimmed, washed and sliced into 1/2 cm discs (around 100g)
• 1/2 tbs grated ginger
• 1 fresh green chili finely chopped
• 200 g brussel sprouts. This was the finished weight after washing, removing tough outer leaves, trimming off stalk end and quartering
• 10-15 fresh curry leaves. These can overwhelm a dish somewhat so you could add much less IMHO
• 1/4 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp coriander/cumin powder (dhana jeeru)
• 1 tsp sugar
• Lemon juice to taste

Cooking:

• Heat oil over a hot / medium heat in a heavy frying pan or pot
• Add mustard / fenugreek seeds and wait for them to sizzle
• Add the leeks and cook until they start to soften frequently stirring
• Add the ginger and chili and cook for about half a minute
• Add the brussel sprouts, curry leaves and spices
• Turn down the heat to medium and stir fry the mix until the sprouts begin to soften. The original recipe includes water but I didn’t want to risk mushiness so relied on the water content of the sprouts.
• Once you are happy with the consistency serve with a form of bread (naan, rotli or paratha but defo not rice), papads and pickles.

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