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Recipes

Horta Vrasta: Boiled Leafy Green Salad


recipe via About.com; photo via Greek-salad-recipes.com


This salad can be made with spinach, beet greens, as well as greens others might consider weeds, such as dandelion greens and nettles or any dark leafy green, such as mustard greens or broccoli rabe (raab, rapini). In rural Greece, horta, is the local green of choice.

Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds of spinach
sea salt
freshly ground pepper
extra virgin olive oil
2 lemons

Method
1. Wash the greens carefully, discarding thick stems and damaged leaves.

2. In a large pot, bring 1-2 inches of salted water to a boil, and add the greens. Boil for 4-15 minutes until softened and dark green, tasting to check for doneness (time depends on the greens used). Remove with tongs, squeezing out the water and drain in a colander.

3. Serve greens warm or at room temperature. Place on individual salad plates, add salt and pepper to taste. Drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice to taste.

Yield: serves 4

Categories
What the veg?

Chinese Broccoli

Nutritional Data:
1 cup of cooked Chinese broccoli has about 19 calories, 1 gram of fat, sugar and protein, and 2 grams of fiber. It has unusually high Vitamin A content at 29% of our daily recommended intake and 41% Vitamin C! It is considered a good source of vitamin E , folate, calcium, iron and zinc among other things.

General Facts:
Chinese broccoli is also known as Kai lan or Chinese kale. It has a long stem, leaves, and broccoli like flowers that are smaller than standard broccoli. The flavor is similar to broccoli rabe and some suggest it is one and the same though we found conflicting information on that front. It is in season in Spring or late Summer.

Storage
Wrapped in plastic, it will keep in the refrigerator vegetable crisper for up to a week.