Aunt Suzy says . . .
This recipe caught my eye because Randy has been talking up trying the slow-roasting method for cooking salmon. Our usual approach is high-heat roasting for a very short period of time. We also love mustard greens; this is an unusual, but ultimately delicious, use of them. As Margaux says, the slow-roasting yields a tender and, we felt, silky textured piece of salmon. The original recipe called for 4 pieces of salmon, but we both made it with 2, using the full quantities of ingredients for everything else. If making with more pieces of salmon, we recommend upping the amounts of the other ingredients. We served with Green Rice and a dry French rosé wine.
Margaux says…
We loved this dish! I’ve never made salmon slow roasted, and I thought it was really tender and delicious, and not dry at all. The sauce was divine. I only made two pieces of salmon, but still made the full recipe of the chickpeas and sauce. The leftover chickpeas and greens made a nice lunch the next day, and we ended up using almost all of the sauce because it was really good over the rice I made to accompany this as well.
Slow-Roasted Salmon with Mustard Greens, Chickpeas and Lemon-Mustard Sauce
INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons plus olive oil
1 15.5-oz. can chickpeas, rinsed
½ teaspoon ground cumin
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 bunch small mustard greens, stems removed, coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon honey dissolved in 3 tablespoons hot water
2 4-6-oz. salmon fillets
1/2 small shallot, very finely chopped
Juice of 1 lemon, or more to taste
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
½ teaspoon honey
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup olive oil
¼ cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons capers, rinsed, patted dry
¼ teaspoon crushed red chile pepper
SALMON
Preheat oven to 250°. Lightly coat a large baking dish with oil. Place chickpeas in a medium bowl and mash about half of them with a fork. Remove skins that have come loose. Add the cumin and 1 tablespoon olive oil, stir to thoroughly combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Transfer chickpea mixture to the prepared baking dish.
Heat remaining olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the garlic, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the mustard greens and cook, tossing, until slightly wilted, about 1 minute. Add honey water and season with salt and pepper. Cook, tossing, until greens are completely wilted, 2-3 more minutes. Transfer to dish with chickpea mixture.
Season salmon with salt and pepper then arrange over greens and chickpea mixture. Bake until salmon is opaque in the center, 25-35 minutes, depending on thickness. (Ours were relatively thin sockeye salmon pieces which were fully cooked at 25 minutes.)
LEMON DRESSING AND FINAL ASSEMBLY
Whisk shallot, 1/4 cup olive oil, mustard, and 1/2 teaspoon honey in a liquid measuring cup. Season with salt and pepper. Gradually whisk in the lemon juice. Adjust seasoning to taste.
Heat the vegetable oil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the capers and crushed red pepper and cook until opened and crisp, about 30 seconds; drain on paper towels.
Place the greens and chickpea mixture on individual serving plates. Top with a piece of the salmon then drizzle with the dressing and top with capers.
Smoky White Bean Stew with Winter Greens
January 19, 2011
Aunt Suzy says . . .
This recipe in Bon Appetit caught my eye for a number of reasons. I love, love, love cooked bitter greens for one, as you know if you read this blog regularly! I imagined that it would be delicious as it’s a cousin to another stew recipe we’ve posted with white beans and Swiss chard. I’ve also been looking for things to do with the smoked paprika I have on the shelf, and I just ordered something called Pirate’s Bite, a combination of dried hot peppers, spices and salt (from The Spice and Tea Exchange). Lastly, I’ve vowed to eat a vegetarian diet for a few of weeks after coming off a couple of months of rich food. So this dish fit the bill in a number of ways! And like the stew with chard, it is a snap to make.
2-3 bunches of mixed winter greens (collard, mustard or kale)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, small dice
2-4 garlic cloves, minced (about 2 tablespoons)
3 teaspoons smoked paprika
2 14-ounce cans diced tomatoes with juice (or one large)
2 cups liquid (water or vegetable stock)
2 14-ounce cans cooked cannellini or pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1/4-1/2 teaspoon of red chili flakes or 2-3 grinds of Pirate’s Bite (optional for heat)
Grated hard cheese for serving (such as Parmigiano, aged Manchego or Pecorino Romano), optional
Prepare the greens by washing thoroughly, removing the tough inner stems and coarsely chopping in 2-inch pieces. I used a combination of all 3 greens – 1 bunch each – which added up to about 25 cups! Don’t be alarmed by this amount since they cook down dramatically. Set aside.
Coat the bottom of a Dutch oven with the olive oil and heat to medium-high. Add the onion and saute till soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and saute 1 minute more. Add the smoked paprika and saute for about a minute. Add the tomatoes, their juices and the liquid. Stir in the greens a little at a time until wilted. Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes until the greens are tender but not mushy.
Add the beans and chili flakes or Pirate’s Bite. Add more liquid if you want a brothier stew. Stir to blend and heat through. Serve in bowls and pass the cheese. (I thought this was delicious without the cheese, but try for yourself and decide.) Addendum Oct 9, 2011: I’m busy stocking my freezer this year for the winter and think this is a good candidate. I have frozen a couple of batches of this recipe without the beans, with the idea that I will add them when reheating.
Braised Hearty Greens 2 Ways
November 19, 2010
Aunt Suzy says . . .
We loved cooked bitter greens here on the Savory side of Sweet & Savory Kitchens! Randy grew up with them in Texas – his grandmother always made turnip greens. I learned about “greens” and how to cook them in Chicago from my friends whose families were from the South. Some people like to make a pot of greens with one type; I typically make a mix, although if I cook only one, it will be collard greens. From left to right in the picture are mustard, collard and turnip greens. The Hmong farmers in Minnesota (immigrants from Laos after the Vietnamese War) grow the most astounding greens! Greens are a big part of Hmong cooking, even though they are of different types than those brought from Africa. In the South, greens are usually cooked with a smoked or cured meat. I carry on that tradition, but I also make a vegetarian version of greens which just might be overtaking the ones with meat as our favorite! And either way, they absolutely must be served with cornbread. There might be other things on the table, but Southern greens without cornbread . . . well, they just aren’t greens!
This is probably one of those things like chili – there are as many ways to cook greens as there are greens’ cooks! Here’s my take, but this is definitely something you can modify to your taste.
The Pot Liquor
The basis for really delicious greens is the savory liquid in which they are cooked. Start with 1 medium onion diced, and 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced. Place a large stock pot or dutch oven over medium heat. Add a thin coating of vegetable oil and heat until it shimmers. Add the onion and saute till soft, then add the garlic and saute for a couple of minutes until fragrant. If making with meat, add 1 andouille sausage, cut in half lengthwise and sliced into half-moons, at the same time as the onion. If making vegetarian, add 1 chipotle pepper in adobo, rinsed, seeded and sliced (shown) at the same time as the garlic. In both ways, add about 2 inches of water to the bottom of the pan. Simmer for 30 minutes to concentrate the flavors. You can do this a day or two ahead of cooking the greens.
Preparing and Cooking the Greens
You will want 3 or 4 (or more!) bunches (called “messes” in the South) of greens. I always start with collard greens as the base and add either mustard or turnip greens (or both!). Place them in a sink-full of water, then drain. Do this 1-2 more times to get all the dirt and grit off the greens. Once you’ve washed the greens, remove the leafy part from the tough stems and discard the stems. I do this by tearing the greens by hand into about 2-inch X 2-inch pieces. Many people cut the stems out and slice the leaves, as is described in Francis Lam’s recent article on Sauteed Greens. Place the greens into the pot with the pot liquor at a boil. You will have to do this a little at a time because your pot probably won’t hold the entire amount at once. They will cook down in a minute or two when you can add more greens.
Once you’ve added all your greens and they have cooked down, add a little more water. I always throw in a couple of dried chile peppers, unless I’ve used the chipotles. Reduce the heat and simmer for 45 – 90 minutes to desired doneness. We do not like our greens boiled down to a mush, so I start tasting at the 45 minute mark. Check every so often to see if you need to add more water – nothing worse than burnt greens! If the turnips greens have some nice little turnips on the ends, I’ll peel and dice those and add to the pot with turnip greens.
Cooked greens are something that freeze well. We always make many batches in the fall when greens are at their peak and then freeze to enjoy all winter. Pictured are two packs ready for the freezer – the one on the left is vegetarian with turnips and the one on the right is made with andouille sausage. It’s wonderful when New Year’s Day rolls around and we don’t actually have to cook greens from scratch!
Sweet & Savory Kitchens 
