Beans And Bitter Greens Recipes

GIGANTE BEANS WITH FETA AND BITTER GREENS

Steps:

• Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a medium pot over medium heat. Cook onion until soft, 8 to 10 minutes. Add garlic and tomato paste. Cook until fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes.
• Drain beans, and add to pot. Add tomatoes and water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and just barely simmer, partially covered, until beans are tender, about 3 hours.
• Meanwhile, prepare an ice-water bath. Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Blanch dandelion greens until tender and no longer bitter, about 9 minutes. Transfer to ice-water bath using a slotted spoon.
• Once beans are tender, add vinegar and 1 teaspoon salt. Drain dandelion greens, and add to pot. Rewarm if needed.
• Divide beans among 4 bowls, and top with feta and dill. Drizzle each with 1 teaspoon oil.

TUNA STEAK AU POIVRE WITH WHITE BEANS AND BITTER GREENS SALAD

Steps:

• If you are planning to roast your red pepper, rather than use store bought, place your pepper under broiler to blacken. See red pepper method below.
• Preheat a large nonstick skillet over high heat. Pat tuna steaks dry and season with a little coarse salt. Drizzle extra virgin olive oil over tuna and lightly coat steaks on both sides. Coat 1 side of the steaks with a generous amount of coarse ground black pepper. When the pan is very hot, add steaks, peppered side down. Sear and brown steaks 2 minutes, then turn, and immediately reduce heat to medium. Loosely cover pan with aluminum foil tent and allow steaks to cook 5 minutes for rare, 7 minutes for medium. Steaks should be firm, but have a little give and some pink should remain at the center.
• In a second skillet over moderate heat, coat pan with olive oil, add garlic and onion, and saute 3 minutes to soften onion bits. Add beans and chopped roasted red pepper to the pan. Heat beans through, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in rosemary and parsley and season beans with salt and pepper.
• Combine escarole and radicchio in shallow dish. Coat greens with lemon juice, then a drizzle of oil. Season salad with coarse salt and toss well.
• To serve, pile a serving of beans on a dinner plate and top with tuna steak. Serve salad greens along side beans and fish. You can also serve this with sliced bread that has been toasted and then rubbed with half a garlic clove.
• To roast red peppers: Preheat broiler to high. Split and seed pepper and place skin side up close to hot broiler. Blacken skins of pepper. Transfer pepper to brown paper bag and seal. Let pepper cool to handle. Peel charred skins away from pepper flesh.

GREENS AND BEANS

Steps:

• Pour enough water into a large pot to be about 2 inches deep; bring to a boil. Stir 1 teaspoon salt into the boiling water; add escarole. Cook the escarole at a boil, pushing the escarole further into the water as it wilts, until it is fork-tender, 3 to 5 minutes; drain.
• Pour olive oil into the pot and place over medium heat. Cook and stir garlic, 1 teaspoon salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes in hot oil until the garlic is soft, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir drained escarole and cannellini beans into the garlic mixture; cook and stir until the beans are hot, 5 to 10 minutes. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over the mixture just before serving.

DRIED FAVA BEANS WITH BITTER GREENS

Steps:

• Soak the beans overnight in cold water, drain and gently pull the outer skin off and discard. Place in a deep, ovenproof cooking pot, add cold water to cover the beans, cover and place over a high flame until the mixture starts to boil.
• As the beans begin to boil, skim the foam. When the foam ceases to rise, add a pinch of salt and stir well. Cook for 1 hour more, stirring frequently and adding more cold water to keep the beans covered. During the last 10 minutes of cooking, use a wooden spoon to stir and pulverize the beans. When the beans are mashed and have the consistency of clotted cream, beat in i cup of olive oil and season with salt and pepper to taste.
• While the beans are cooking, clean the greens and boil in water until tender. Drain and toss with the remaining olive oil, salt and pepper to to taste. Serve the beans and the greens with thick country bread.

BEANS AND BITTER GREENS

Steps:

• Add 1 tablespoon of the oil to a large skillet or sauté pan and place over medium-high heat.
• Add the greens and garlic and sauté for 1 minute.
• Lower heat, add mirin or dry sherry, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
• Whisk together the lemon juice, mustard, and remaining 1 tablespoon oil in small bowl.
• Toss the sauce, greens, and remaining ingredients together thoroughly.