DLGs

A has been on a dark leafy greens kick the past few months. He wants to eat them every *every* day. He thinks they are the best, most nutrious food. Eh *shrugs* I am sure they are good but they aren't on the ten superfoods list! :-) As a good partner, I do try to incorporate his ideas. I won't cook them every day but I will cook them often. Last night was broccoli rabe - one of my favorites of the greens. Some I just can't stomach - they bring back childhood memories. My mother had a huge garden and also was from the south. In the summer, dinners always included huge amounts of weird greens - beet, turnip, collards, grass, anything she could stew up. (Just kidding about the last one but some of them did look unappetizing). I do like greens but veer more towards the kale, chard, rabe types. I like them to have a bite and a bit of texture. That being said, I don't include mustard greens because what the heck are they?

Last night I made a rice, rabe and bean dish. What more could one ask for? Beans, greens and grains! It looked so pretty I took a few pictures. I did something new with the rice. I took one cup brown rice and added 1/2 cup wild rice. I picked it up in the bulk section of our co-op a while back and just never used it. It is a mixture of wild rice (which isn't really rice but seeds) that doesn't have any of the flavor mix you get when you buy the packages. I put it all into 3 cups water, brought to a boil and then simmered until the water was absorbed, about 30 minutes. It was a real nice combo. I love brown rice but the wild rice added a nice amount of texture, crunch and variety to it.

For the greens portion, I heated some olive oil in a pan and sauteed garlic, julienned carrots, the thicker bottom portions of the rabe and crushed red pepper. I planned on mincing up an onion and carmelizing it but *quelle horror!* no onion could I find! I even scrounged around in our catch-all bowl on the counter hoping to score even some shallots, but nothing. My plan was for the sweetness of the onions to help tame the bitter bite of the rabe. I used carrots instead and they looked real pretty in the finish dish. I added about 1/2 cup of vegetable broth and when the rabe stems were tender, I added in the rest of the rabe, cut in 2 inch sections. Meanwhile, I toasted 1/3 cup pine nuts until they were brown. When all the rabe was wilted down, I added the pine nuts and a can of rinsed and drained cannilini beans, heated through and served over the rice. Very nice and easy dish. A ate two servings.

Greens aren't the best as leftovers but A is taking a serving with the rice in his lunch today along with a fresh, sliced kiwi, blueberries, raw almonds and chocolate covered prunes.