Sausages with Greens & Beans and Grilled Garlic Bread

I fell in love with Italian Greens & Beans at our Italian friend’s family dinner and have been making it ever since. Here’s my spin on the dish. This dish is healthy, tasty, cheap and quick… and my hubby loves it!

 

Greens & Beans:

1 large bunch of kale, chopped
1 large carrot, peeled into ribbons
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
½ cup broth
2 crushed garlic cloves
Red pepper flakes (Amount depends on how spicy you like it. I usually do 1 tsp.)
1 can cannellini or white kidney beans
Salt & pepper, to taste

Grilled Garlic Toast:

Rustic, crusty bread, sliced (I used a crusty sourdough loaf)
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
Garlic cloves
Sea salt

Sausages…your favorite kind!

In a large pan, heat EVOO over med-high heat. Add kale and carrots; sauté for 2-3 minutes. Add broth, cover and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add garlic, pepper flakes and cannellini beans. Mix together and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover and set aside until ready to eat.

While the sausages are grilling, brush one side of each slice of bread with EVOO. Grill bread on both sides. Once bread is toasty, rub oiled side with garlic cloves. Sprinkle with salt.

Serve greens and beans with grilled sausages and sprinkle everything with freshly grated parmesan cheese.

 

Note: I know traditional Italian greens and beans don't have carrots, but I like to sneak in as many veggies in every dish whenever possible.

Spicy Italian Greens & Beans

This is a super easy, cheap and tasty dish to make. It is also pretty healthy too since the only fat added to the Greens & Beans is the oil used for sautéing.

 

½ yellow onion, diced

5 garlic cloves, mince (I love garlic, but if this is too much for you, just use less.)

1 bunch of kale, stemmed removed and roughly chopped
1 can of cannellini beans (white kidney beans)
Red pepper flakes
Chicken or vegetable broth
Salt, seasoned to taste
EVOO

In a sauté pan over med-high heat, add a few drizzles of EVOO and sauté onion and garlic until fragrant. Add chopped kale, beans, a few dashes of red pepper flakes and just enough broth to have liquid at the bottom of the pan. Cover and cook over low heat for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. When the broth starts to evaporate, add more just to create steam in the pan, cover again and continue cooking. Add salt to taste. Stir in more red pepper if you like it spicier.

Serve with fried, thin-cut pork chops.

Note: If you want a stronger garlic flavor, add garlic at the end of cooking instead of sautéing with onion.

 

Pork Stuffed Collard Greens

Try this recipe with turkey or beef too.

1 large bunch of collard greens
1 lb ground pork
½ small onion, minced or grated
2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1 tsp red chili flakes
1 tsp salt
Freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup bread crumbs (see note below)
Stock (beef, chicken or vegetable)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook collard green leaves for 3-4 minutes, until tender. Drain and set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine pork, onion, garlic, chili flakes, salt, pepper and bread crumbs. Mix until all ingredients are combined. Divide into 4 sections and make oval shaped mini loafs. Wrap each loaf in 2-3 leaves.

Place seam side down in an 8x8 casserole dish. Add enough broth to reach ¼ of the way up the stuffed greens. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 35-40 minutes.

Enjoy with rice.

NOTE: If you don’t have bread crumbs, just throw some crackers into a food processor. This is a great way to use up the end slices of bread or stale crackers.

Roasted Chicken with Spicy Beet Greens

Chicken:
½ roasting chicken
Seasoning: garlic salt, lemon pepper, paprika

Greens:
beet greens, chopped
¼ cup chopped hard salami
½ small onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
3/4 cup of water
1 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 can of chickpeas, drained
1/4 cup of cider vinegar

Preheat oven to 350˚ F. In a 9x9 glass casserole dish, drizzle with EVOO. Place seasoned chicken, breast side down, cover with aluminum foil and bake. Bake for 20 minutes per pound. Uncover, flip chicken over and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes. Make sure internal temperature reaches 170˚.

Wash the greens thoroughly, chop and set aside.

In a large skillet over med-high heat, cook salami for about 3 minutes. Add onions and cook until translucent. Stir in garlic. Add water, sugar and red pepper to pan. Bring mixture to a boil.

Mix in beet greens and chickpeas. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 15 minutes until the greens are tender. Stir in vinegar.

Prawns with Romesco Sauce, Parmesan Mashed Potatoes and Greens

Inspired by a Food Network's Worst Cooks in America  episode and revised it a bit.

Greens:
1 bunch mustard greens, cleaned, thick stems discarded
Pinch crushed red pepper flakes
½ cup chicken stock
2-3 tsp EVOO

Shrimp:
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
8 (21/25) count shrimp, peeled, deveined, and rinsed
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons white wine
2 to 3 tablespoons Romesco Sauce, recipe follows

Mashed Potatoes:
2 red skinned potatoes, cubed
¼ cup cream
3 tsp of butter
¼ cup of freshly shredded Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

Romesco Sauce:
1/4 cup slivered almonds
1 slice rustic white bread, diced into 1/2-inch cubes
1 tsp white balsamic vinegar
4 Roma tomatoes, cored and quartered
1/4 cup jarred roasted red peppers
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp paprika
2 tsp EVOO
Salt

For mashed potatoes:
Boil potatoes until fork tender, about 10 minutes. Drain. Add cream, butter, salt and pepper and mash together until smooth. Mix in cheese.

For the greens: In a medium pan over medium heat, heat the oil and sauté the mustard greens until starting to wilt, about 1 minute. Stir in the red pepper flakes and cook 1 minute. Add the stock and bring to a simmer. Cook until the greens are just tender, 5 to 7 minutes.

For the shrimp: Heat a sauté pan over medium heat and add 1 Tbsp butter, allowing the butter to melt.

Season the shrimp with salt and pepper and then add to the pan. Stir the shrimp while cooking. Cook until bright red, 3 to 4 minutes.

Once the shrimp are cooked, add the wine to deglaze the pan, allowing the wine to simmer for 1 minute until reduced.

Turn the heat off and add 2 to 3 tablespoons Romesco sauce, stirring in to coat the shrimp. Add the remaining 1/2 tablespoon butter to finish.

To plate, spoon potatoes on a plate, top with mustard greens, and top with shrimp.

Romesco Sauce:
Grind the almonds in a food processor until finely ground but not pureed. Add the bread, vinegar, tomatoes, peppers, garlic, and paprika to the processor and grind together briefly until evenly pureed. With the motor running, add the olive oil slowly until the sauce is thickened. Taste and season with salt.

Pork Chops with Italian Greens and Baked Potato

This was a fast and tasty meal, all for under $10!

2 pork chops, bone-in
Grill seasoning for pork
2 Yukon Gold potatoes
1 bunch of escarole, kale or Swiss chard, chopped
½ onion, sliced
½ can of chick peas, drained
½ cup of chicken broth
3 garlic cloves (2 cloves sliced for potatoes, 1 clove minced for greens
Few dashes of crushed red pepper flakes
Sea salt
Freshly cracked black pepper
EVOO
Freshly parsley, minced

Heat the oven to 425 degrees. Wash potatoes thoroughly. Cut thin, even slices 2/3 the way down the potato and all the way across. Insert garlic slices in between potato slices. If you want less garlic flavor, put the garlic in between every other or every few potato slices. Drizzle potatoes with EVOO and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake for 45 minutes, until potato is tender enough to easily pierce with a fork.

In a medium sauce pan, sauté onion in a little EVOO over med-high heat until translucent. Add greens and garlic, mix until wilted. Add minced garlic, chick peas, broth and red pepper flakes. Cover and let simmer for 25 minutes, mixing occasionally. Season with salt and pepper.

Season pork chops with grill seasoning. Heat a grill pan to high heat. Quickly sear pork on each side so each side has a nice brown color. Turn heat down and cook all the way through, until no longer pink in the middle.

Plate pork with greens and potato. Sprinkle dish with parsley. Enjoy!