Mama Zabetta's Spicy Greens

This recipe is from Witch in the Kitchen: magical cooking for all seasons by Cait Johnson, which I only just bought and thus is not on my potential cull pile, but I figured I hadn't made a recipe from it yet so I should probably blog one anyway. The cookbook is divided into sections for each of the eight major pagan festivals and contains lots of other suggestions for crafts and rituals as well as seasonally-inspired recipes. I love it and foresee it getting a lot of use!

My menu plan for the week had vegetable fritters down for one night, so I moved it to Monday night, since I do the fruit and vege shopping on the weekend, and added the stir-fried greens recipe as a side. I made brown rice and corn fritters, which my kids devoured as though they hadn't been fed for a week, but the stir-fried greens weren't as much of a hit with them (although we adults ate the lot). The two smaller ones insisted on cutting up the silverbeet for me, which meant that Miss K at least tried "her" greens and seemed to like them, but she didn't touch the other vegetables. I thought they were very yummy indeed, and it's definitely my kind of recipe, since it contains lots of "add whatever you like here" and "chuck in another slosh of this until it looks right". And half the fun of this book is in the author's editorialising throughout the recipes, which I'm leaving out for brevity. But here are the bones of the dish.

Mama Zabetta's Spicy Stir-fried Greens with Nuts and Seeds



Ingredients
2-3 tbsp olive oil
Onions, chopped
Garlic cloves, chopped
Dried mustard (I didn't have any)
Chilli or pepper flakes
Assorted slower cooking vegetables: I had zucchini, celery and green capsicum
Shoyu or tamari (I had mushroom soy sauce)
Dry red wine (optional)
Assorted faster cooking vegetables: I had silverbeet (swiss chard)
Toasted sesame seeds or sunflower seeds
Cashew, pecan or almond pieces
Toasted sesame oil (I didn't have any)
Fresh parsley, chopped (I had coriander)

Heat some oil in a large frying pan or wok. Add the onions, garlic, chilli or pepper flakes and dried mustard. Stir occasionally til onion is golden and tender. Chop your slower cooking vegetables, and add with a slug of soy sauce and red wine (if using). Stir and add olive oil occasionally. [I added about a tablespoon of honey as well]. When everything is just crisp-tender, add the faster cooking vegetables and continue to cook for just another couple of minutes, until the greens are just wilted.

Add a handful or so of toasted sesame seeds or sunflower seeds and either cashew, pecan or almond pieces [I dry-fried a saucerful of sunflower seeds, slivered almonds and pine nuts, and served separately at the table]. Drizzle with toasted sesame oil and serve topped with chopped fresh parsley [or coriander, if you remember, which I didn't] over a bed of your favourite cooked grain.



I served it as a side to my rice fritters, which are the easiest thing in the world to make and somehow turn brown rice into a magnificent dish which Ms I Hate Brown Rice, Actually will devour. You can add tuna for a non-vego audience and they are even better. I served them with a dollop of sour cream and some sweet chilli sauce on top, but Ms B insisted on eating them with tartare sauce like she used to when she ate the tuna patties, and they were still yummy.

1 cup brown rice, cooked and cooled slightly
1 cup corn kernels
1 cup grated cheese
salt and pepper
2 eggs
1-2 tbsp flour to bind

Combine. Drop tablespoonfuls into a frying pan over medium heat and flatten. Turn them over when they're cooked on one side, then stick them on a plate in the oven to keep warm while you fry the rest. Try and secure some for your own plate before your offspring devour them all and then fight over the crumbs.