Black-Eyed Peas and Collards

Collard greens: big, beautiful leaves with big, beautiful nutrition.

Here’s a great one pot meal that has a small amount of prep and fewer dishes at the end of it. This dish has good protein and vegetables. Add a piece of whole grain toast and you’ve got your grain. You can also put more vegetables into the base or replace the bacon with paprika to get the smoky flavor.

1 cup dried black-eyed peas
1 tablespoon butter
1 large onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 strips bacon, cut into small pieces
1 bay leaf
1 large bunch collard greens
1 teaspoon of salt, plus more to taste
Pepper to taste

Put the peas and 4 cups of water in a bowl and soak overnight. Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, bacon, and bay leaf. Cover the pan with a lid and leave it for 2 minutes. Stir occasionally and cook until the onion is translucent and the bacon is starting to crisp, about 5 minutes. Drain the black-eyed peas and pour them into the saucepan. Cover them with water and turn the heat down to medium-low. Cook for 45 minutes, or until the peas are easily crushed with a fork. Be sure to check occasionally that the water does not cook off, as sometimes older peas take longer to cook than fresh ones. While the peas cook, remove the stems from the collard greens and chop them into bite size pieces. Once the peas are cooked, add the collards, salt to taste and some freshly ground pepper, and stir. Cover the pan and leave until the collards are tender, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and serve.

Adapted from the cookbook Good and Cheap by Leanne Brown.

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Posted on October 1, 2015

Pork-Stuffed Collard Leaves

Lovely large leaves mean collards make ideal wraps.

1 bunch collard greens
1 pound ground pork
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon red chili flakes
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
2 cloves minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup cooked brown rice or quinoa
1 cup vegetable or chicken broth
1 cup grated cheese (optional)

Stem collards and cut leaves in half lengthwise. Blanch them in boiling water for a minute, then submerge immediately in ice-cold water. Remove and let drain.

Mix the pork, salt, cumin, chili, onion, garlic, oregano, nutmeg and rice together well. Take a piece of collard leaf, put about 1/4-1/3 cup of mixture at its base and roll it up. Put seam-side down in an oiled baking pan. Do the same with remaining leaves, packing them side by side. Pour broth over the top. You can substitute tomato sauce. Cover with foil and bake at 375°F until pork is cooked through, about 35-40 minutes. Remove foil, sprinkle with cheese and bake 10 minutes more uncovered.

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Posted on September 24, 2015

Purple Potato Gratin

Purple potatoes are vibrantly violet on the outside, and white on the inside.

1 1/2 cups milk
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons flour
2/3 cup grated cheddar cheese
2 pounds purple potatoes, unpeeled and sliced thinly
1 cup sliced shallots
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 slices bacon
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

To make the gratin sauce, place the butter into a small pan and melt. Add flour and stir to combine, cooking over medium heat for about 1 minute. Whisk in the milk and stir until thickened. Stir in cheese; when melted remove from heat. Salt and pepper to taste.

Sauté the shallots in the olive oil until slightly brown and caramelized. Remove from the pan. Add bacon and cook until cooked through but not crispy (it will get crispy later). Cut bacon into 1-inch pieces.

Grease a shallow baking dish. Add half of the sliced potatoes to the dish. Sprinkle the shallots over the potato layer. Add the remaining potato slices to the dish. Pour the gratin sauce over the top of the potatoes, spooning into any visible cracks and crevices. Top with parmesan cheese. Add the bacon over the top. Place into a preheated 350 degree oven for 40 minutes.

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Posted on September 8, 2015

Sweet & Sour Pork Chops with Quick Pickled Leek or Garlic Scapes

4 (8-ounce) pork chops, bone-in, 3/4″-1″ thick
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons honey
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
Pinch crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Season pork chops with salt and pepper. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Sear chops, both sides, until golden brown, about 2-3 minutes. Place in oven and roast until cooked through, reaching an internal temperature of 140 degrees F, about 8-10 minutes.

To make the sweet-and-sour glaze, combine balsamic vinegar, honey, garlic, oregano, basil, thyme, and red pepper flakes in a small saucepan over medium heat; season with salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Serve pork chops immediately with sweet-and-sour glaze.

These pork chops go great with Asian Pickled Leek Scapes!

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Posted on May 22, 2015

Mother’s Day Quiche with Leeks and Bacon

Farm-fresh pastured eggs make this Mother’s Day treat eggstra special!

Crust
2 cups Nash’s soft white flour
2/3 cup butter, chilled, chopped
1 egg yolk

Filling
1 1/2 tablespoons butter
1 large leek, cleaned and thinly sliced
6 1/2 ounces rindless bacon, chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
1/2 cup grated cheese
4 Nash’s eggs
1/2 cup milk

Combine flour and butter with a fork or in a food processor until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add 2 tablespoons chilled water and egg yolk. Process until dough just comes together. Turn pastry onto a lightly floured surface. Knead until just smooth. Shape into a disc. Wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Melt butter in a frying pan over medium-low heat. Add leek and bacon. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 10-12 minutes or until leek is soft. Remove from heat and stir in parsley. Let cool. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a standard glass or ceramic pie dish.

Roll out pastry between 2 sheets of baking paper to form a 12 inch circle. Line base and side of prepared dish with pastry, trimming excess. Place dish on a baking tray. Line pastry with baking paper. Fill with uncooked rice or ceramic pie weights. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove baking paper and rice or weights. Bake for 10 minutes or until pastry is golden brown. Cool for 5 minutes.

Spoon leek mixture into pastry. Top with cheese. Whisk eggs and milk together in a separate bowl, and season with salt and pepper. Pour over leek mixture. Bake for 30 minutes or until top is golden brown. HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!

Recipe adapted by Virginia Newman from Taste.com.

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Posted on May 7, 2015

Potato Soup with Bacon and Asparagus

4 slices thickly cut bacon
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1 pound fresh asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
3 pounds potatoes, peeled and quartered
2 cups low-fat milk
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives (optional)

Place bacon slices into a large skillet and cook over medium-high heat, turning occasionally, until evenly browned, about 10 minutes. Transfer bacon to a plate lined with paper towels to drain.

Stir onion, garlic, and salt into the hot skillet and cook and stir until fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat.

Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil and stir in the asparagus; reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until asparagus are softened but still bright green, 5 to 8 minutes. Drain asparagus and set aside.

Place the potatoes into a large pot and cover with salted water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until tender, about 20 minutes; drain.

Transfer cooked potatoes to a soup pot and mash them with a potato masher, leaving some potato chunks for texture.

Pour milk into a microwave-safe bowl and heat on high until the milk is hot, 1 to 3 minutes; stir milk occasionally as it heats. Pour hot milk into the potatoes and stir to combine.

Place soup over medium-low heat. Crumble bacon slices and stir bacon and the onion mixture into the soup; heat to a simmer and cook, stirring often, until soup thickens, 5 to 10 minutes. Sprinkle soup with chives to serve.

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Posted on April 13, 2015

Rutabaga Saute

Enjoy the sweetness of these lovely rutabagas!

1 tablespoon butter
1 medium leek, sliced fine
2-3 mushrooms, chopped
1 medium rutabaga, grated
1/2 pound ground meat (Nash’s pork or Clark’s beef)
1/2 cup broth or stock of any kind
1 small package Itsy-Bitsy Greens, any kind
1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 cup grated cheese, any kind

Sauté the leek in the butter until it starts to soften, 3 minutes. Add the ground meat and sauté until cooked through. Add mushrooms, rutabaga, salt, pepper, paprika and broth. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, for about 10-15 minutes. Towards the end, toss on the greens and cover to wilt. You could also add about 1 cup of any leafy green, chopped fine; just add it when you add the broth to cook through. At the end, sprinkle the cheese on top, cover and wait a couple of minutes for it to melt. Voila!

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Posted on March 31, 2015

Pasta with Garlicky Kale Raab, Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Nash’s Sweet Italian Sausage

If you don’t already have a favorite kale raab, try lacinato kale raab. It’s tender and has lovely miniature lacinato leaves, complete with the bumpy texture that is distinctively lacinato.

1 bunch kale raab
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoons butter
1 large shallot
4 large cloves garlic
1/2 pound Nash’s Sweet Italian Sausage
1/2 pound shiitake mushrooms
1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes
1/2 pound pasta, any type — or try quinoa or couscous!
Pinch hot pepper flakes
Sea salt and/or white pepper to taste
Romano or parmesan cheese

Wash kale raab. Cut shallot and garlic cloves into thin slices. Heat olive oil and butter in a larger skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic and shallots. Add sausage. Sauté until cooked through.

Add sun-dried tomatoes, a bit of butter with shiitake mushrooms and hot pepper flakes. Sauté a couple minutes more, until hot and slightly softened.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta and, five minutes before its cooking time is up, add the kale raab. It will seem like too much for the water, but the raab will wilt and cook alongside the pasta. Before draining the pasta and raab, save a small amount of the pasta water and add this to the sausage mixture, scrapping up brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Mix in pasta and raab, drizzle with olive oil and toss to coat until creamy. Sprinkle with grated cheese and enjoy!

We thank Amy Borg for this recipe.

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Posted on March 17, 2015

Sausage Bean Pasta Ragout

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 pound Nash’s ground pork sausage
2 14-ounce cans diced tomatoes in juice
6 cups chicken or vegetable broth
2 cups cooked beans (kidney, pinto, black)
4 teaspoons dried basil, or 1 cup fresh
3 teaspoons oregano
Crushed red pepper, to taste
1/2 cup macaroni
2 cups fresh greens (kale/chard/spinach/arugula/cabbage)
1/3 cup grated romano cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
Optional: grated beets, carrot, and turnips

Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic and sauté 6 minutes. Add sausage and sauté until brown, breaking up meat with back of fork, about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes with juice, broth, beans, basil, oregano, and dried crushed red pepper. (Optional: add grated beets, carrot, and turnips too!) Simmer 15 minutes to blend flavors, stirring occasionally. Add pasta and cook until tender but still firm to bite, about 15 more minutes. Add greens and cook just until wilted, stirring occasionally, about 4 minutes. Mix in 1/3 cup cheese and more fresh basil, if you have some. Season ragout with salt and pepper; ladle into bowls. Serve, passing additional cheese separately.

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Posted on February 9, 2015

Easy Roasted Cabbage with Bacon

Possibly the easiest possible way to make cabbage (besides munching on it raw) is to roast it with oil and salt & pepper. Add bacon for a hearty flavor.

Serves 4

1 large head green cabbage, outer leaves removed
Olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 slices thick bacon

Heat the oven to 450°F. Cut the cabbage into quarters and slice the bottom of each quarter at an angle to remove the stem core. Cut each quarter in half again so you have eight wedges. Lay these down on a large roasting pan or baking sheet and drizzle lightly with olive oil. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper.

Cut each slice of bacon into small strips and lay on top of the cabbage.

Roast for 30 minutes, flipping the cabbage wedges once halfway through. If the edges aren’t browned enough for your taste after 30 minutes, put them back in for five-minute increments until they are.

Serve immediately; the wedges cool down fast.

We thank the kitchn for this recipe.

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Posted on November 3, 2014