A recipe from Castles and Kitchens

Turning Green? That’s a Good Thing!

Whether you have a vegetable garden or a nearby farmers market, summer is just about here and there will soon be a bounty of super fresh, reasonably-priced greenery to eat. Leafy greens are incredibly healthful, especially the cole crops, or Brassica, which are all those related to cabbage. Kale and collards score 1000 on the ANDI scale (Aggregate Nutrient Density Index).
So you get maximum nutrients per calorie out of those guys. Our green leafies support the immune system and detoxify the body. Their micronutrients even repair cell damage and that protects against cancer and other chronic diseases. Check out the chart with all the values here:

www.drfuhrman.com/…/andi-food-scores-rating-the-nut…

I have to believe in this since I come from a long line of avid greens eaters who live healthily to just shy of 100 years old. By the way, I intend to break through that centennial marker myself! So I grow all manner of greens and we eat of them liberally all summer.
Here is a typical summer supper that we put together from things we had in the garden and fridge last week. It’s fast and it’s delicious. Feel free to substitute other greens, chicken breasts, or whatever you have on hand.

TIP: I like lamb best of all meats because it is grass fed and about as clean as you can get, outside of wild game. I pick up a boneless leg of lamb on a regular basis and I cut it into 3 or 4 pieces. I wrap each piece in 2 layers of plastic wrap and then pop them into a big freezer bag with the date on it. I can thaw one at a time for our dinner or more than one when we have company. Cut it up for souvlakia, roast or grill the whole piece or cut it into steaks like I did for this recipe.

Lamb Steaks with Scallions serves 2-4
30 minutes

1 bunch of collard greens, excess stems removed and leaves cut into 1” slices
3 garlic cloves, smashed
2-3 Steaks from leg of lamb ¾” thick
2 garlic cloves minced with 1 t salt and mashed to paste.
4-5 scallions, sliced in half lengthwise
1/3 c tomato sauce
2 T lemon juice
2 T minced fresh oregano
EVOO
1 - 2 oz feta cheese, crumbled

Allow lamb steaks to come to room temperature.

Turn on grill to get as hot as it can.

Fill a large pot ½ full of water and bring to boil. Add salt and collard greens. Cook for 5 minutes and remove into a colander to drain.*

Put 3 smashed garlic cloves and 1 T EVOO in a skillet and turn heat to medium. When garlic become fragrant, add the collard greens, turning to coat with oil and cook, turning often, until tender, about 10 minutes. Add salt to taste.

Meanwhile, sauté the scallions in EVOO, with salt and pepper to taste for 3 minutes. Add the tomato sauce, lemon juice and oregano and cook on low heat for 5 minutes.

Rub the steaks with the garlic paste and place on the hot grill over direct heat. Cook steaks to your desired doneness, turning once – about 4 minutes on each side for medium – and remove to a plate to rest 5 minutes.

To serve, make a bed of the collards on a serving platter. Drizzle with good EVOO. Place the steaks in the center. Pour any juices that accumulated during the resting into the tomato sauce and incorporate. Dress the lamb steaks with the scallions and sauce and sprinkle with crumbled feta cheese.

*TIP: There’s nutrients in that there boiled collard water! Drink it. Yes, really. Warm or chilled. They call it “pot liquor” down South. If you’ll have some time in the next day or so, put it in the fridge to make vegetable stock from. Add an onion, a rib or two of celery, a carrot, some parsley, a bay leaf and whatever else you have in the vegetable bin that needs using up, and cook it for 30 minutes or more. If you’ve been saving chicken backs, wingtips or necks in the freezer, toss them in to make chicken broth.