Rustic Turnip Greens and Vegetables with Quinoa

Well, I could not pass up a great deal on frozen turnip greens at my local discount grocery while ago- a HUGE  3 pound box for only $1.79! Normally I might have to pay almost that much for a 1 pound package of some frozen greens. So I bought 3 boxes-- later wondering for a minute how I was going to use 3 pounds at a time. However, since it was such a good deal, I did not spend much time on the small details.  ;)  When I started thinking about what I could use them to make, I remembered that turnip greens have a slightly bitter flavor as compared to spinach or kale. So I began to think more about how I could incorporate them into things that my children might eat and not complain too much! While I had previously used these greens in soups and eaten them sautéed with bacon, I was looking for something a little different and some way that I could use up a lot of them without eating a huge pile of them by themselves.

So this is the huge block of turnip greens, partially thawed.

After perusing the internet for ideas, I decided it would be good to mix the greens with some other vegetables (including some that have a little natural sweetness to help offset the bitterness of the greens) and a little ham for extra flavor. Then I thought it might also be nice to have a little milk or cream sauce- I ended up making a white (béchemel sauce) to mix in at the end. In the process of adding this and that, I got the idea to throw in some quinoa, which I have on hand but do not use as much as I would like to. This ended up being a perfect addition- not really enough to stand out but still there adding some great nutrition.

As is often the case, my dish ended up to be a HUGE pot that we will be eating on for a little while. I used probably about 1 1/2 pounds of the greens. If you have a "normal" amount of fresh greens or frozen- like 1 pound or less, than you will have a more reasonably sized dish. I have attempted to cut my amounts in half, which may still make a normal "family-sized" amount. This dish can be a main dish or used as a side to other foods. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that both of my children, although initially were a little hesitant to try it, ended up eating it very well and commented on how good it was. Feel free to leave out items or add in other foods, as desired.

The large crockpot it started in- had to be moved into another pot to finish on the stove.

This is something that can be started in the morning in a crockpot and be ready in 4-6 hours on high or 8 hours on low. However, I had to switch over to a pot on the stove since I did not get it started early enough and needed to speed up the cooking process. I am notorious in my family for my soups/dishes that start in one pot, then have to be moved into a bigger pot- sometimes multiple times.
Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

• 12-16 oz. or a good-sized clump of turnip greens, the hard center rib removed, rinsed well and then the greens chopped (or use frozen chopped greens)
• 3-4 med-large potatoes, cleaned and cut into chunks
• 1/4 cabbage, coarsely sliced/chopped
• 3 carrots, peeled and sliced
• 2-3 ham slices, cut into chunks
• 2-3 sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped (I used some leftover cooked ones, about 2 cups)
• 4-6 cups water
• 3-4 chicken bouillon cubes
• salt/seasoned salt (1-2 tsp to cook in with potatoes, then to taste at the end)
• 1/4 cup zylitol or other sweetener (more or less, helps cut the bitterness of the greens)
• 1/4-1/2 cup quinoa, rinsed and drained
• 4 hard boiled eggs, diced
• 2 medium onions, diced and sautéed in 2 Tbsp butter, a little salt until they begin to almost carmelize
• 1 Tbsp minced garlic
• 3 Tbsp butter
• 2 1/2 Tbsp flour
• 1-1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 2 1/2- 3 cups milk
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg

Instructions:

• Assemble the first 11 ingredients and put in a 6-8 quart soup pot, adding enough water to cover the potatoes/vegetables. Begin cooking on the stove on medium-high (or put in the crockpot) and cook until the potatoes/other vegetables are tender- approximately 35 minutes. Watch closely to make sure there is enough water and stir occasionally. 
• While vegetables are cooking, prepare the hard-boiled eggs and sauté the onions and garlic. 
• Then start preparing the white sauce- in a saucepan, melt the butter, add in the flour and whisk together. Continue to cook over low-medium heat while stirring the roux for a couple minutes. 
• Then begin to gradually add the milk, stirring constantly. Bring to a boil and then lower heat to medium low, continuing to cook for about 10 minutes, stirring regularly. When finished, add in seasonings. 
• When the vegetables are finished, add in onions, hard-boiled eggs and white sauce. Mix together and serve with some crusty bread, if desired.

* Turnip greens are an amazing food- so full of nutrients that they really are another one of the "superfoods". Feel free to check out the site I found that does a wonderful job at detailing just how good this food is- http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=144  I did not realized that it is the turnip green's high calcium content that contributes to its bitterness. It is also very rich in cancer-fighting nutrients. So cheers to the humble turnip greens!

Easy Yellow Split Pea Soup- Iraqi style

We have been enjoying so many of the foods prepared by an Iraqi family whom we have had the privilege of getting to know lately. Their family usually breaks their fast each evening during Ramadan by eating a date, then they proceed to a soup- often a lentil soup. My friend's version is often made with very tiny vermicelli pieces. Although they typically use red lentils, which are so good, I had some yellow split peas that I was wanting to use. I like the creaminess that comes with using split peas. Even though they eat this as a starter, I love this soup as the main course in the cold winter.

Makes about 3-4  servings.
Ingredients:

• 1 large onion, diced small
• 2 cloves garlic, minced very small (my addition)
• 1 cup yellow split peas
• 6 cups water
• 1-2 cubes chicken bouillon/flavoring
• Adobo seasoned salt with cumin (or salt) to taste
• 1/4 tsp black ground pepper
• 1 tbsp dried parsley
• 1 tsp curry powder
• approximately 1/2 cup vermicelli, broken into small pieces, approximately 1-2 inches
• added water as needed

Directions:

• Sort the peas- pulling out the things not edible, then rinse well. 
• In a large pot, sauté onion and garlic in 1-2 Tbsp oil until turning a golden brown. 
• Add in rinsed peas, water, salt, pepper, parsley and bouillon to a boil and then lower the heat to medium-low. 
• Continue cooking in this way until split peas are soft and turning creamy- about 1 1/2- 1 3/4 hours, stirring occasionally. 
• Add the curry powder and additional water if needed to make it the proper soup consistency. 
• Add the vermicelli and continue to cook until the pasta is soft. It is then ready to serve.

*This could easily be adapted for the slow cooker- add everything except the curry and vermicelli (the onion/garlic should already be sautéed). Cook on high for 3 1/2 hours. After the soup is creamy, add the curry and vermicelli and allow to cook until the vermicelli is finished- approximately 20 minutes.

This soup is also wonderful over warm rice.

Mom's Easy Goulash

My mom has made goulash for many years- a true comfort food. I am posting her recipe and adding in my additions and changes. Although there are so many different types of recipes/versions of goulash, one of the common ingredients is paprika. While reading over my mom's recipe, I realized that she never used paprika- or at least did not include it in the list. However, it was always a favorite, and it only gets better with age. So make it up a day or two ahead of time.

Ingredients:

1/2 - 3/4 pound ground beef or ground lamb, browned and fat drained off
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 green bell pepper, chopped small
1 tsp Goya Adobo seasoned salt (or regular salt)
pepper to taste
1 tsp Italian herb blend (or 1/2 tsp each of oregano and basil)
1-2 Tbsp worcestershire sauce (I added a few dashes more)
1/2 tsp cinnamon (my addition)
1/2 tsp smoked paprika (my addition- or you may use 1 tsp of sweet paprika)
1 25oz jar of spaghetti sauce (or homemade, if preferred)
dash of cayenne pepper, if desired
1-2 Tbsp brown sugar (if desired to cut the acidity of the tomatoes)
1-2 beef bouillon cubes (my addition)
2 cups uncooked pasta

After meat has been browned, add the onion, garlic, green pepper, salt and pepper. Continue to cook the onion until tender. Then add in the sauce and other ingredients except the pasta. At this point it may be put in a slow cooker/crock pot to cook on low for about 4-6 hours, if desired. If cooking on the stove, it is best simmered for approximately 1-2 hours. Approximately 20 minutes before serving, cook the pasta according to directions. Then add into the sauce and mix well.

Serve with bread and salad or vegetables, if desired. This is good garnished with grated cheese.

This recipe serves 3-4 adults.

African Groundnut Stew

This stew's secret ingredients is the peanut butter-- gives it a wonderful flavor. My husband told me he never would have known it had peanut butter in it unless I told him, but there is a unique and "gotta have more" flavor that it adds. It is also good with many different kinds of meat. This from a recipe by Bob Kellermann and adapted by Paula Deen and then further adapted by myself with another similar recipe.

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds stew beef, cut into 1-inch cubes (or you may use lamb or chicken meat cubes and substitute chicken bouillon cubes)
• 1/2 cup flour to coat meat
• 1/4 cup oil
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 beef bouillon cubes
• 1-2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper (optional)
• 1-2 teaspoon chili powder (I used 2 tsp)
• 2 tablespoons curry powder
• 1-2 Tbsp dried parsley
• 4 cups water
• 4 slices bacon
• 1 cup chopped onions
• 1 large bundle of fresh collard greens, (may also use kale, spinach or other greens) washed, drained, and thinly sliced (or frozen, chopped greens- 1 pound)
• 2-3 carrots, chunked- may use any other root vegetables
• 2 large white potatoes and/or sweet potatoes (optional)
• 1 (28-ounce) can tomato puree
• 1/2- 1 cup peanut butter (I used the larger amount and it was much tastier but not too strong. I even used chunky PB.)

Directions:

• In a Dutch oven, dredge the meat and flour and brown in the oil. 
• Add the bouillon cubes, salt, crushed red pepper, chili powder, curry powder, parsley and water. Stir and bring to a rapid boil,  reducing the heat and simmering covered for 1 hour. 
• Cut the bacon into small pieces and fry in a skillet until all of the fat is rendered. Remove the bacon from the skillet and set aside. 
• Saute the greens and the onions in the bacon fat for 4 minutes, stirring constantly, adding in the garlic part way through. 
• Add the sauteed greens and onions along with the tomato puree, chunked potatoes and any other root vegetables, reserved bacon (optional), and peanut butter to the stew. Stir and simmer covered for 1 hour. If it seems to not have enough liquid, add another cup of water/broth while it cooks. You may also need to add a little more seasoning/salt since the potatoes absorb a lot. Serve with rice.  (Note: if using frozen greens, you won't need to cook them with the onions in the bacon fat quite as long.)

This can be easily adapted for a slow cooker, as well.


Alternative method-


Recently, I cooked the roast beef a couple days before at a very low temperature (250 degrees) for about 4 hours with onion soup mix and beef drippings from the pan that included seasonings from when I first browned it. Since I still had a large amount of meat left over, I used most of it to make this stew. Instead of flouring and browning the meat as above, I just chopped the cooked meat up into small pieces. Meanwhile, in a large soup pot- approximately 10-12 quarts, I browned 2 large onions and 3-4 cloves of garlic, minced very fine, with the oil, curry and chili powder. After the onions were softened and the seasoning had time to cook in the oil, I then added a 1 pound bag of frozen chopped collard greens. After these thawed in the pot and cooked for a couple minutes with the onion/garlic mixture, then I added the meat, 2 large white and 2 good sized sweet potatoes chopped into chunks, tomato puree and water/beef broth liquids, as well as the parsley and crushed red pepper (optional) and peanut butter- basically everything else. I did not bother with the bacon, instead just cooked the onions with the seasonings and oil. (The bacon adds much flavor, but also takes more time than I felt I had.) Because the meat was already cooked, I just needed to cook it on low temperature long enough to get the potatoes soft enough to eat- approximately 30 minutes. However, you need to stir this regularly so it does not burn or stick to the bottom.

Mmm good- and really not a hard meal to put together with leftover meat.

Wassail

This is an old-fashioned spiced drink that is served warm, similar but different from spiced cider. It is nice in the winter with snacks.

Ingredients:

4 cups unsweetened apple juice
3 cups unsweetened pineapple juice
2 cups cranberry juice
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 cinnamon stick
3 cloves
lemon slices

Mix all together and simmer on the stovetop for about 1 hour or warm and put in a crock pot/slow cooker a couple hours before serving.

Ukrainian Lentil Soup

This recipe was just shared with me by a good friend. It looks wonderful. Here it is:


Ukrainian Lentil Soup

Pour 8 cups of water into a pot--add more or less water according to how much soup is desired. Season water according to taste preference with salt, pepper, garlic powder or garlic cloves, two whole cloves (optional), and a small bay leaf (optional). If not adding meat, may add bouillon flavoring.

Add the lentils and meat (if desired) to the pot of water and cook for one hour. Meat options include a ham bone, beef cubes/tips, or one pound of diced hot dogs. If using hot dogs, add them to the pot of soup later (when adding the sautéed vegetables).

Dice ¾ to 1 cup each of carrots, celery, and onions. Also dice 1 ½ to 2 cups of potatoes (white potatoes, sweet potatoes, or yams).

Pour some olive oil in a skillet and heat the oil. Then sauté the vegetables just until they are soft.

Add sautéed vegetables to the pot of lentils/meat. This is when the diced hot dogs can be added.

Instead of the stove-top cooking pot, you may put it all into a crock pot (slow cooker) on high 4-6 hours or on low 6-8 hours.

Simmer on low heat for a few hours until vegetables are fully cooked.

This recipe is easy and flexible. It was shared with me by the late Ruth Dippold.

~Lois Pierce

Meat Tagine (Stew)

This is a Moroccan dish that is full of flavor. Traditionally, this is cooked in Morocco in a special clay pot with a cone-shaped top that creates a steam cooking effect. It usually cooks slowly for a large part of the day. There are many varieties- you can use more or fewer spices, as desired.  For those of use who do not have tagines, a slow cooker works great, although I have used the pressure cooker and it was almost as good, also. However, the meat and seasonings only should be pressure-cooked and then the other items added so as the keep some consistency. Don't be too intimidated by the list of spices. It is easy to put together and is versatile with beef, chicken, or lamb. You could even make it vegetarian with some meaty beans.  I saw Rachel Ray making this and have adapted the recipe somewhat. It is often served with couscous, but is also great over rice, millet, quinoa, bulgur or potatoes.

Ingredients:

1 pound of meat, ground or chunked
2-3 Tbsp oil
2 large onions, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced (more or less as desired)
1 heaping Tbsp sweet paprika
1 heaping Tbsp cumin
1 tsp tumeric
1/2- 1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp grill seasoning
1 tsp coriander
1 Tbsp chili powder
1  tsp cardamom
1/2 tsp ginger (optional)
1/2 tsp cloves (optional)
1/2 tsp allspice (optional)
1 Tbsp worchestershire sauce
1 cup raisins, prunes and/or chopped apricots
1 1/2 cups chopped sweet potato or orange squash/pumpkin
water/broth approximately 4-6 cups
chopped cilantro/ parsley, sliced green onion for garnish


Place the meat, onions, garlic, oil and dry seasonings together in a medium pot and brown. After the meat is browned and the onions are becoming soft, add the remaining ingredients, cover with water and/or part water and broth (beef is good for lamb and beef). Cook on low on the stove for approximately 1- 1 1/2 hours. Garnish as it is served.

If using a slow cooker, follow instructions for browning and add mixture into the slow cooker (3 1/2 quart should be adequate) with the other ingredients. Cover with water/broth and cook for on high for 3-4 hours (on low approximately 8 hours) or until meat and squash are cooked.

If using a pressure cooker, brown ingredients as listed above and then add all the other ingredients except the squash/pumpkin/sweet potato and dried fruit. Cook for approximately 15 minutes, cool enough to open cooker, then add squash/fruit and cook until squash is soft.

Easy Split Pea Soup (slow cooker and stovetop methods)

Ingredients

1 pound split peas, dried
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3-6 carrots, sliced
2-3 stalks celery and/or tops, chopped
1 bay leaf
dash of cayenne pepper (optional)
1/4 tsp thyme
8-10 cups water
1/2 tsp salt (more or less to taste), I prefer Adobo seasoned salt

Optional

2 cups chicken stock (or may use water with ham bouillon/flavoring)
a turkey carcass
a ham bone
leftover ham
1/4 pound bacon, fried and crumbled for garnish or real bacon bits
12 oz can evaporated milk or 1- 1/2 cup milk

Put all ingredients in a soup kettle or 5 quart slow cooker (leave 1- 1 1/2 inches for boiling room). Simmer, uncovered, for 3-4 hours. Or cook in slow cooker for 8-10 hours on low or 3-4 hours on high. About 1/2 hour before serving, remove meat and bones, and put blend soup (handheld stick blender works the best). Return meat to soup. May add some milk, if desired and garnish with bacon bits.  Serve with cornbread or other types of bread. Makes approximately 10-12 cups.

Variations

Curried Pea Soup-  For a different flavor and consistency, cut all vegetables into small dice, use 8 cups chicken broth. Substitute 1 tsp or more of curry powder and black pepper to taste

Vegetarian Pea Soup- Omit meat, stock or bones. For a complete protein, add 1 cup barley or other grain, or serve with whole grain bread. If you wish, add 6 oz. grated cheese (Gruyere, Swiss, jack or Cheddar) before serving.

*Recipe adapted from Nadine Bowlus, Jean Baker White, Donna Moore and Stacy Laputz- from Whole Foods For the Whole Family La Leche League International Cookbook 1981.