Plant It Forward

Shawarma Greens

Shawarma Greens

From Marie Viljoen at Gardenista: https://www.gardenista.com/posts/garden-to-table-recipe-spicy-spinach-from-66-square-feet/

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 clove garlic, crushed and chopped
  • 4 ounces Malabar spinach leaves and young stalks
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • ¼ teaspoon schwarma spices*
  • Salt, a pinch

Instructions

  1. In a pan over medium heat warm the oil, and add the garlic. Sauté until translucent.
  2. Add the spinach. Raise heat to high and cook for a couple of minutes. Turn, and add the lemon juice and spices.
  3. Continue to cook until the leaves have collapsed but have not lost their bright color. Serve at once.

Notes

*Shawarma spice blend: 1 tablespoon cumin seeds 1 tablespoon sumac 2 teaspoon black peppercorns 1 teaspoon fennel seeds 1 star anise 5 cloves 5 cardamom pods ½ cinnamon stick ¼ teaspoon fenugreek seeds ½ whole nutmeg, grated ¼ teaspoon paprika Whizz everything in a spice grinder till fine. Bottle at once.

https://plant-it-forward.org/shawarma-greens/

Malabar Spinach & Avocado Green Goddess Dip

Malabar Spinach & Avocado Green Goddess Dip

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Yield: 2 cups

From Chef Christine Carroll:

I live on an island near San Francisco so what better way to honor my hometown than re-creating a recipe that was invented here. Green goddess dressing was first created at San Francisco’s Palace Hotel in 1923 by chef Philip Roemer as a culinary nod to actor George Arliss and his hit play at the time, The Green Goddess. The salad dressing first took on its pastoral hue by combining fresh herbs such as parsley and tarragon with a creamy base of mayonnaise. To this day, it continues to be a favorite salad topper. In this recipe, I punched up the color by adding fresh malabar spinach as well as thickened the dressing into a dip by incorporating perfectly ripe avocado. Serve this pretty dip with an assortment of cut fresh veggies as an easy dinner party appetizer or use it as a quick sauce for grilled fish, especially salmon.

Ingredients

  • 2 anchovy fillets
  • 1 garlic clove, peeled
  • ½ cup fresh parsley, roughly chopped
  • ½ cup malabar spinach, roughly chopped
  • 3 tablespoons chives, roughly chopped
  • 2 tablespoons tarragon, roughly chopped
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon olive oil
  • 1 ripe avocado, peeled and diced
  • ¾ cup whole milk sour cream
  • ½ cup mayonnaise
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  1. Combine the anchovies, garlic, parsley, malabar, chives, tarragon, and lemon juice in a food processor or blender. Blend on high for one minute or until the mixture is smooth. Scrape down side and add the olive oil and avocado, blend for one minute more. Finally, add the sour cream, mayonnaise, and salt and pepper. Blend again for 1 more minute or until the dip is a uniform light green color. (Note, if you prefer this to be a more pourable dressing, add 1-2 tablespoons whole milk to loosen it up at this point.) Serve with a variety of cut vegetables including peppers, carrots, fennel, long beans, and cherry tomatoes. Store extra dip in a jar with a tight-fitting lid in your refrigerator for up to one week.

Notes

Difficulty: 1 Special equipment: Food processor or blender

No malabar spinach? No problem! Substitute with regular spinach, even kale will do the trick.

https://plant-it-forward.org/malabar-spinach-avocado-green-goddess-dip/

Bachali Kura Pappu (Malabar Spinach Dal)

Bachali Kura Pappu (Malabar Spinach Dal)

Some of these ingredients might not be familiar to you, but if you have time, visit the groceries in the Mahatma Gandhi District around Hillcroft and got exploring. I recommend visiting Chandrika Masala and talking to the owner there. http://www.chandrikamasala.com/

Ingredients

  • 1 small cup tur dal/red gram dal/kandi pappu
  • 2 cups chopped and tightly packed Malabar spinach
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • Big pinch turmeric powder
  • 2-3 green chilies, slit lengthwise
  • ½ tsp chopped ginger
  • Salt to taste
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 Tablespoon tamarind paste
  • For seasoning
  • ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
  • 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
  • 1 teaspoon dal/minappa pappu, split gram dal (optional)
  • 3-4 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 2 dry red chilies, de-seed and tear
  • 10-12 fresh curry leaves
  • 2-3 teaspoons oil

Instructions

  1. In a pressure cooker, place dal, Malabar spinach, onions, green chilies, ginger and turmeric powder. Add 2 cups of water and pressure cook. If cooking over stove top, cook till the dal is almost cooked.
  2. Heat oil in a heavy bottomed vessel, add mustard seeds and as they jump around, add cumin seeds, urad dal, garlic, red chilies and curry leaves and stir fry for half a minute.
  3. Add this to the pressure cooked dal along with salt and combine. Add tamarind paste with 1/2 cup of water and cook on slow to medium flame for 7-10 minutes without lid or until you get the consistency of your choice.
  4. Serve with white rice and a stir fry dish.

Notes

http://www.sailusfood.com/2011/01/10/bachali-kura-pappu-malabar-spinach-dal/

https://plant-it-forward.org/bachali-kura-pappu-malabar-spinach-dal/

Fish & Greens

* one fish, filleted into serving size pieces

* one-third cup palm oil (or peanut oil or any cooking oil)

* three cloves garlic, chopped

* one onion, chopped

* one cup water

* one pound spinach leaves, cleaned (or collards, kale, or similar, cleaned, chopped, and blanched)

* canned tomatoes

* one tablespoon salt

* cayenne pepper, red pepper, or African Hot Sauce (to taste)

What you do

* In deep pan, fry the fish in the oil. Add the garlic and onion. Reduce heat and simmer until onions are clear. Add water. Simmer 15 minutes.

* Add tomatoes and spinach. (If other greens are used they should be blanched ahead of time.) Season to taste. Simmer until all is done. Serve with Baton de Manioc (also called Chikwangue), Fufu, or Rice.

Malabar Spinach Pudding

Malabar Spinach Pudding

Ingredients

  • 1 qt. Spinach – ripped or roughly chopped
  • 1 cup minced Onion
  • ¼ cup minced Garlic
  • ¼ cup minced Chinese Chives
  • 6-8 each Egg yolks - Use healthy very firm egg yolks. Runny or loose yolks will compromise the
  • custard
  • 1 ½ cups whole Milk
  • 7-8 Tbs. Salt

Instructions

  1. Sautee your onion and garlic until they become soft. Add the spinach and chives. Cook for about 5 to 8 minutes on medium heat. Season with salt. With a handheld blender, or stationary blender, blend the sautéed veggies into a liquid.
  2. With a fine mesh sleeve strain the liquid and discard the solids.
  3. Tempure the eggs into the warm spinach liquid along with the milk. Pour the mixture into ramekins of your choice. Smaller ones will cook faster and more evenly.
  4. Place the ramekins in a casserole or hotel pan. Put the pan with the ramekins inside in a 325-degree pre heated oven. Pour water a little over half way up the side of the ramekins. Close the oven and cook for about 30 minutes.
  5. To check to see if the puddings are cooked fully take a ramekin out of the oven and place it on a solid surface. Gently shake the ramekin. If it is still “watery” or loose continue to cook. It should not “giggle” at all when it is fully cooked. Cool them in the fridge out of the water bath they were cooked in. Using a paring knife, run the knife on the inside of the ramekin. Flip onto a plate. You should have a “creamed spinach mold” in essence.
https://plant-it-forward.org/malabar-spinach-pudding/

Malabar spinach and Fig smoothie

Malabar spinach and Fig smoothie

Ingredients

  • ½ cup Spinach – ripped or roughly chopped
  • 1 each Banana – ripe
  • 2 cups Figs – ripe figs with the stems cut and then frozen
  • 1 ½ cups – Almond Milk
  • 1 Tbs. Honey
  • 1 teas. Cinnamon

Instructions

  1. Be sure to use a powerful strong blender. I think the vita-mix blender is a really great tool but have heard good things about ninjas and the bullets.
  2. Blendtech is another high-end blender.
  3. Substitute crushed ice instead of frozen figs if your blender cannot break them down fully.
https://plant-it-forward.org/malabar-spinach-and-fig-smoothie/

Malabar spinach smoothie

Malabar spinach smoothie

Ingredients

  • 1 cup grapes
  • 1/2 cup pineapple chunks
  • 2 cups packed, fresh Malabar spinach
  • 1/2 ripe banana, peeled
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/2 cup ice cubes

Instructions

  1. Blend together and enjoy!
https://plant-it-forward.org/malabar-spinach-smoothie/