Chicken with Chez Panisse Beet Greens

Tuesday 19 June

We had leftover legs, wings, and thighs from last Wednesday's roast chicken, and also a beautiful bag of greens from the golden beets.  Hint: when you get those pretty tubers home (goes for beets, radishes, turnips, etc.), detach them from their greens and store them separately; the greens, like lettuce, will keep much better if they're washed, spun dry, put in a bag with a paper towel, and stored in the crisper in the fridge.

We went to the Chez Panisse cookbook to get an interesting recipe for beet greens.  Alice Waters serves them as a dressing for pasta, but they make a fine side dish too.

We used:

2 Tbsp. raisins (instead of currants)

1 big bunch beet greens (1/2+ pounds)

3-4 sprigs fresh mint

1/2 a medium red onion or shallot

1 clove garlic

1 bay leaf

extra-virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper

Procedure: cover the raisins with boiling water and let soak for 15 minutes, then drain. While they're soaking, wash the beet greens, strip the leaves from the stems, and cut the leaves into chiffonade, and the stems into 2-inch pieces (if desired). Remove the mint leaves from the stems, wash, and chop them into chiffonade too.  Peel the onion and garlic and chop them both finely. Sauté them with the bay leaf over medium heat in a little olive oil for about 5 minutes, until translucent. Add the beet greens (stems first if you're using them, then leaves a minute or two later) along with the raisins and cook 5 minutes more, covered. Salt and pepper to taste, then stir in the mint leaves and serve.

The greens were unusual - but in a good way.  We may try them on pasta sometime soon.