Heirloom Tomato Salad

The tomatoes on the plants in our garden are still green, but Tutti Frutti has been selling beautiful heirloom tomatoes for a couple of weeks. I assume they're greenhouse grown, but they're still ripe and juicy.

However, since they don't have the acidity of field-grown tomatoes, I tossed them with a mustardy dressing and our spicy homegrown arugula to make an assertive side to our barley salad on Sunday.

Tracie thought they were the best dish of the day and kept spooning them onto her plate. She was sure there was balsamic vinegar on them, but there wasn't.

Here's the recipe so she (and you) can reproduce it at home. It will be good with non-heirloom tomatoes and less-fiery store-bought arugula as well. (Although it's worth growing arugula just to have its pretty peppery flowers as a garnish.)

Heirloom Tomato Salad

1 tsp dijon mustard

3 tbsp red wine vinegar

1 tbsp minced shallot

1 tbsp minced chives or Egyptian Walking Onion leaves

3 tbsp olive oil

1 lb heirloom tomatoes

1 cup arugula leaves

sprinkle of fleur de sel

Whisk together the mustard, vinegar, shallot, chives and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste. This will make extra dressing that is great on romaine lettuce. It will last a couple of weeks in the fridge.

Cut the tomatoes in chunks. Add the arugula leaves, torn in pieces if large.

Sprinkle about a third of the dressing over the vegetables and toss gently. Put in a serving dish, sprinkle with some fleur de sel, and garnish with arugula flowers.

Serves 4

Cooking in the Time of Drought

I think I bought this pasta pot when I moved into my first apartment, oh so long ago. It's followed me around ever since even though I rarely use it. A smaller pot suffices for pasta for one or two people.

However, I'm using it more in this time of drought because even though it takes a lot of water to fill it, the draining insert makes it really easy to save the pasta water to put on the plants.









The other night I pulled it out of the cupboard to cook tagliatelle with arugula (yes, our arugula patch keeps on giving!) and cherry tomatoes.

It took many kettles of water to fill the pot, but I persisted.

Then I added tagliatelle from Italy.



When it was cooked halfway through, I added the arugula to the pot, and cooked it all for another 5 minutes, until the pasta was al dente. I then lifted up the insert and let the water drain back into the pot.













Meanwhile, in a large skillet, I had fried cherry tomatoes and garlic in olive oil. I poured in the drained pasta and arugula, and tossed it all together.

Then we sat down to a simple meal.

While we ate, the pasta water in the big pot gradually cooled down. When it was at room temperature, we took it outside to water our little kumquat tree. I'm sure the extra vitamins from the arugula will be especially nourishing for it.

Arugula Salad with Balsamic Dressing

What greens are in this salad, Larry asked. Homegrown arugula, I said. Yes, but what other greens are in it, he persisted. Just arugula, I replied. Wow, he said in a surprised tone of voice, it's really good.

I understood his amazement because our arugula is exceptionally peppery. I usually add a few leaves to a green salad as a flavor boost or cook it with other greens.

But for our Memorial Day barbecue, I tossed handfuls of the leaves with a hearty balsamic vinaigrette that complemented their heat without overpowering it. With the sweetness of tomato and grilled red onion and the salty umami of a little shaved parmesan, the salad was a huge success.

The extra dressing lasts well in the fridge, ready to be poured over grilled vegetables or hearty grain salads.

Arugula Salad with Balsamic Dressing
3 slices red onion
olive oil
1 tomato
2-3 cups arugula leaves, tough stems removed
wedge of parmesan

Push toothpicks into the slices of onion so they hold together on the grill. Brush them with olive oil and grill over a medium-hot fire until they are soft and well-browned (not black and crispy), 3-4 minutes per side. Remove from heat, remove toothpicks, and cut in quarters.

Cut the tomato into bite-sized pieces.

Toss the arugula, onion and tomato together with just enough dressing to lightly moisten. Use a potato peeler to shave a few pieces of parmesan over the salad. Serve with extra dressing on the side.

Serves 2-3


Balsamic Dressing
1/4 cup pitted kalamata olives
1/4 cup mustard
2 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup basil leaves, coarsely chopped

Purée olives, mustard and garlic in blender. With the rotors running, gradually add the olive oil until it emulsifies. Add the balsamic and basil. Purée until mixed. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Makes about 1 1/4 cups

Fusilli with Arugula and Tomatoes and Feta

Our arugula is starting to flower, so I harvested a bunch of the leaves and flowers the other night to try to encourage it to get bushy again. Once I discarded the tough stems, I had about 3 cups of peppery leaves and flowers. I tossed them with hot pasta, tomatoes and feta for a quick flavorful dinner.

It's a simple dish that can be varied in many ways. Cherry or grape tomatoes can substitute for the plum tomatoes. I used leaves from our homegrown Egyptian walking onions, but scallions are a good substitute.

This is fresh fast food at its best.

Fusilli with Tomatoes and Feta
8 oz fusilli or other pasta
3 tbsp olive oil plus more to drizzle
1 shallot, peeled and diced
3 Egyptian walking onion leaves, chopped
3 large cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 3/4 lb roma tomatoes
3 cups chopped arugula leaves
4 oz feta, diced

Cook the pasta in plenty of salted boiling water until it's al dente.

Meanwhile, warm the olive oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add the shallot, onion leaves, garlic and tomatoes. Sauté about 7 minutes until the tomatoes soften. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Drain the pasta and return it to its pot. Stir in the tomato mixture and arugula. Drizzle in a little extra olive oil to make it all meld together. Stir in the feta and serve.

Serves 2-4

Arugula and Orange Salad

It's nice to have a zesty salad to go with a simple plate of rice and beans. The other day I picked tender arugula leaves from our garden and combined them with oranges and red onions for a salad that definitely left the mouth tingling.

Unlike most store-bought arugula, ours is quite spicy. Although the sweet oranges provided a nice balance, a few leaves of butter lettuce would have made the salad less of an adventure in eating.

Don't let that deter you though. Just munch on an arugula leaf before you make the salad, and decide if you need to add some lettuce. There is plenty of dressing in this recipe to easily coat a few leaves of lettuce. I saved the extra dressing and used it on a green salad the next day.

Arugula and Orange Salad
1/4 cup fresh orange juice (from 1 orange)
1 very small clove garlic, minced (opt)
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp canola oil
1/4 tsp curry powder
1/2 navel orange
1 tbsp slivered red onion
1 cup arugula leaves, washed and dried

In a small saucepan, boil the orange juice over medium heat to reduce it by half or a little more, about 5 minutes.

Pour the concentrated juice into a small bowl and whisk in the garlic, vinegar, oil and curry powder. Add a sprinkle of salt to taste.

Cut the top and bottom off the orange. Stand it on end and cut it in half. Reserve half for another use. Slice the skin and white pith off the half you will use, then cut the flesh crosswise into 1/4 inch half-moons.

Toss the arugula in the dressing and put it on a plate. Add the red onion and oranges. Drizzle a little dressing over all. (You will probably have extra dressing.)

Serves 2

Orange and Cranberry Salad

I've never really warmed to cranberry sauce. My mother used to cook cranberries with orange zest and a little cardamom and they sat on the table and were returned to the kitchen untouched (at least by me). I didn't like the texture of the cooked berries. Of course, the stories of jellied cranberry sauce being slid out of the can and presented on a plate weird me out even more.

So I struggle to serve cranberries at Thanksgiving.

This year, however, I served them in a salad, and they were great. This is not the jello salad of the '70s with cranberries, tinned mandarin orange slices and miniature marshmallows. This is a healthy yet delicious updated version. No jello (not vegetarian) required.

 I combined chopped cranberries with crisp celery and sweet juicy oranges and served them on a bed of greens. The oranges provided sweetness without jammy-ness, and the lightly-sweetened cranberries were pleasantly tart but not overpowering. The salad provided a nice contrast to the creamed corn and scalloped potatoes.

I added a few home-grown arugula and nasturtium leaves to the butter lettuce for a little variety. Salad mix would be fine too. The mint adds a really nice perk, but if you don't have any, the salad will still be good. Also, olive oil can substitute for the walnut oil if needed.

Orange and Cranberry Salad
1 cup fresh or thawed frozen cranberries
2 oranges
1 stalk celery, thinly sliced (about 1/2 cup)
2 tbsp chopped red onion
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp grated ginger root
butter lettuce
2 tbsp chopped fresh mint leaves
1 tbsp walnut oil

Pulse cranberries in food processor 5 times to coarsely chop. Transfer to a bowl.

Cut the tops and bottoms from the oranges. Cut the peel and white pith from them, then hold them over the bowl and cut the sections from the membranes, letting juice and fruit fall into the bowl. Stir in celery, onion, sugar, lemon juice and ginger root. Cover and refrigerate at least one hour, or up to 2 days.

Toss lettuce and mint leaves with oil. Place on a serving platter. Top with the cranberry mixture.

Serves 4

Grilled Zucchini Sandwich

Continuing the theme of thank goodness there are farmers to grow my food for me, I planted zucchini seeds in our vegetable garden this afternoon and then served a simple supper of grilled vegetable sandwiches made with zucchini from Finley Farms. I am optimistic that in a couple of months I will be serving home-grown zucchini, but in the meantime we won't starve.

These sandwiches taste of summer - tomato, basil, arugula for kick, and the grilled zucchini adding substance. It's best to serve these on whole wheat sandwich bread that you can squeeze together so the filling doesn't slide out. I have used Whole Foods rosemary boule before, which adds more flavor but also more difficulty in handling the finished sandwich. Toothpicks are helpful.

I was happy to find first-of-the-season organic tomatoes at the Givens Farmstand. While the arugula adds enough interest that flavorful midsummer tomatoes are not necessary, this sandwich won't taste good with a flavorless winter tomato.

I served the sandwich with potato salad and iced tea - a true summer meal in mid-May. Kind of amazing.

Grilled Zucchini Sandwich
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tbsp minced basil
1/2 tsp grated lemon zest
2 small zucchini, cut lengthwise into 1/4 inch slices
2 slices red onion, about 1/4 inch thick
4 slices bread
1 cup arugula, thick stems removed
1 tomato, thinly sliced

Combine mayonnaise, basil and lemon zest. Set aside. (This is more than you will need for the sandwiches, but it's good on pretty much anything you would use mayonnaise for.)

Warm a grill pan over high heat. Brush zucchini and onion with oil and grill until tender but still slightly crunchy, 3-4 minutes per side.

To assemble the sandwiches, spread mayonnaise on the slices of bread. Top two with zucchini, onion, arugula then tomato. Season with salt and pepper. Top with the the remaining bread slices.

Makes 2 sandwiches

Millet and Arugula

I got in from the garden this evening completely uninspired about cooking dinner. But I opened the pantry cupboard and saw millet, and remembered I had arugula in the fridge, and suddenly dinner became easy.

Arugula is a zesty green that adds spice to even boring millet. This recipe can be made with other greens like chard or purple mustard greens, but arugula really is the best.

Lightly toasting the millet before cooking it helps the grains stay separate. Millet is faster to cook than brown rice, so it makes a quick and easy dinner after a busy day.

Millet and Arugula
1 bunch arugula (about 3/4 lb)
3/4 cup millet
1 tbsp oil
1/2 red onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp tamari (or soy sauce)

Wash the arugula and chop it coarsely. Set aside.

Toast the millet in a heavy skillet over medium heat until golden, about 5 minutes. The grains will start to pop slightly as they cook. Remove from heat.

Sauté the onion in the oil for a minute, then add the garlic and cook until lightly browned, another 5 minutes or so.

Stir the arugula and salt into the onion and cook, covered, 5 minutes. Add the millet along with 1 1/2 cups water and the tamari. Stir well, then cover and cook over medium-low heat until the millet is tender and the liquid has been absorbed, about 20 minutes.

Serves 3-4

Grilled Eggplant Salad

I know summer is the season of barbecuing, but I actually prefer to use my grill pan. I take an electric hot plate out on the patio, put my cast iron grill pan on it, and turn out great dishes like this eggplant salad.

Feel free to barbecue the eggplant if you prefer (especially if the barbecue is lit for another reason).

The greens on top of the eggplant are a combination of spicy arugula and lemony sorrel. If you can't find either, use more basil and mint and parsley. The idea is to have a fresh zesty contrast to the soft eggplant and salty feta.

I adapted the recipe from Jeanne Kelley's decidedly non-vegetarian book, Blue Eggs and Yellow Tomatoes. (Warning - there's at least one dead animal picture in it.) However, the vegetable flavors she puts together are really good.

Grilled Eggplant Salad
1/2 lb eggplant
olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 small clove garlic
1 tsp cumin seeds, toasted
2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup arugula
3/4 cup sorrel
1 cup mixed basil, parsley and cilantro
1 oz feta

Wash the eggplant, slice off each end and discard. Slice the rest into 1/2 inch thick circles. Brush them with oil and grill about 5 minutes per side until browned and tender. Remove from heat to a platter, and let cool to room temperature.

Whisk together the lemon, garlic, cumin and olive oil. Drizzle half over the cooled eggplant.

Add the greens to the remaining dressing and toss well. Put the greens on the eggplant, and scatter crumbled feta over the top.

Serves 2-3

Simple Sunday Supper

After a long day of digging in the garden, it's nice to have a simple supper.

Last night I boiled up some penne and tossed it with stemmed and chopped arugula, goat cheese, and enough of the pasta cooking water to make a sauce. Plenty of black pepper, and we had a meal worthy of a good Italian restaurant. But we were able to eat it at home, on our patio, enjoying the garden.

Arugula and Millet

I forgot to take a picture until we had served
ourselves. But with a dish this good, it's hard
to fight off the eaters.

Millet is the one grain that is considered alkaline-forming in the body. All other grains - wheat, corn, rice - are considered acid-forming. Seeing that the body is mainly alkaline, it seems that eating alkaline is a good thing.

Unfortunately, millet is boring. If you buy mixed seed to feed the birds, millet is the grain that the chickadees toss over their shoulders. Budgies like it. But it's round and bland. What to do?

Well, I dress it up with arugula, specifically wild arugula - the peppery kind. Pepper perks up millet.

Of course, you can use other greens in this recipe, but make sure to use some with zest and personality like mustard greens.

Arugula and Millet
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 large onion, chopped (1/2 cup)
1 small clove garlic, minced
1 bunch wild arugula, stems and leaves
1 1/2 cups water
3/4 cup millet
1 tbsp tamari or soy sauce

Warm the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until lightly browned.

Wash the greens and chop coarsely. Add to the pot with 1/2 tsp salt. Cook, covered 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, toast the millet in a cast iron frypan over medium-high heat until golden, about 5 minutes. It will pop slightly. Remove from heat and add to the greens along with 1 1/2 cups water and 1 tbsp tamari. Cook, covered, over medium-low heat, until the millet is tender and the water is absorbed, about 20 minutes.

Serves 2-3

Eggplant Pasta

Larry was out one evening last week, so I took the opportunity to indulge in arugula and eggplant.

Actually, I think he would have enjoyed this too.

I had leftover grilled eggplant, which I diced and stirred into some crumbled goat cheese. I cooked some penne, stirred in the eggplant goat cheese mixture, and then tossed in some chopped arugula. I covered the pot and let the residual heat cook the arugula and warm the eggplant.

A good grating of black pepper, and I had a simple feast.

Arugula and Zucchini Salad

We had corn risotto for dinner Sunday night.

Tomatoes and basil from our garden, organic corn from Finley Farms -- it was a great Sunday night meal. You can read the recipe here.

Risotto requires attention, but not as much as most recipes indicate. Besides stirring every few minutes and adding stock as necessary, it cooked itself while I prepared a salad.

Risotto is creamy and soft, and this particular one is sweet with corn and tomatoes, so I decided we needed a crunchy lively salad on the side. Arugula and zucchini with a little parmesan and olive oil made a great accompaniment.

This is another one of those incredibly simple recipes. The key is to use the right ingredients.

I bought young wild arugula from Kenter Family Farms. The tame arugula found in bags at the grocery store has barely more bite than spinach. Wild arugula is peppery. Young arugula has tender stems so the whole leaf is delicious and edible.

Finley Farms had tiny little zucchini -- 3 inches long and barely an inch in diameter. Sliced thin on my mandolin, they added a little crunch. Bigger zucchini would have needed to be salted, drained, then rinsed and dried, before being added to the salad.

For this simple recipe, it's worth hunting for the young wild arugula and baby zucchini.

Arugula and Zucchini Salad
1 1/2 oz arugula (2 large handfuls)
1 tsp olive oil, divided use
1 tbsp parmesan, divided use
5 oz zucchini

Wash and dry the arugula. Toss with 1/2 tsp olive oil and half the parmesan. Put on a platter.

Slice the zucchini thinly and place on the arugula. Drizzle with 1/2 tsp olive oil and sprinkle with the remaining parmesan.

Serves 2

Millet and Arugula

I can never resist arugula when I see it at the farmers market.

This zesty spicy green is great with pasta. I recently stirred it into cooked millet, which improved the grain immensely.

Millet is a small round grain that is much enjoyed by budgies. Practitioners of macrobiotics say that it is the least acid-forming of all the grains.

It's a good source of magnesium, so it is a heart-healthy grain. Magnesium is known for lowering blood pressure and reducing the risk of heart attack. Millet also contains niacin to lower cholesterol. So it should be one of the grains in the rotation.

I cook it like rice - 1 cup grain to 2 cups water. It cooks in 15-20 minutes.

So it's healthy and fast to cook - it's only downside is that it's a little boring. Arugula perks it right up.

Millet and Arugula
1 tbsp oil
1/2 large onion, chopped
1 small clove garlic, chopped
1 lb arugula
3/4 cup millet
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp tamari

Sauté the onion in oil for a minute, then add garlic and cook about 4 minutes until lightly browned.

Wash, trip and coarsely chop the arugula. Stir into the pot with the salt and cook, covered, 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, toast the millet in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat until golden, about 5 minutes. The seeds will pop slightly as they cook.

Add the millet to the arugula along with 1 1/2 cups water and the tamari. Stir well, then cook, covered, over medium-low heat until the millet is tender and the liquid has been absorbed, about 20-30 minutes.

Serves 4

Arugula and Lime Salad

Arugula is a zesty green. When you can find small leaves of wild arugula at the market, pick them up to toss with lime juice and garlic in this simple salad that gives a lift to any meal.

It also adds a boost of nutrition. Arugula is in the cruciferous family, so it has the anti-cancer benefits of cabbage and broccoli. It's also high in antioxidants, vitamin C, and bone-supporting minerals.

Arugula and Lime Salad
1 clove garlic
juice of 1 lime (about 2 tbsp)
1 tbsp cilantro
2 tbsp olive oil
1 bunch arugula (4-6 cups)

Mash garlic with a little salt. Whisk together with lime juice, cilantro and olive oil. Season to taste.

Wash and dry arugula. Remove any really thick stems. Put in a bowl. Toss with a little of the dressing, just enough to coat. Serve the extra dressing on the side.

Serves 4

Saying good-bye to 2012

I could think of no better New Year's Eve dinner than a feisty dish of wild arugula and gorgonzola.

The arugula is lightly sautéed with mushrooms and diced tomatoes. The gorgonzola melts when tossed with hot pasta, and the ingredients meld together to create a dish that is even better than the sum of its parts.

It was a great way to see 2012 out with gusto.

Penne with Arugula and Gorgonzola
16-oz package penne
3 tbsp olive oil
6 oz crimini mushrooms
14-oz can diced tomatoes
1 bunch arugula
6-8 oz gorgonzola

Cook penne in a large pot of boiling salted water according to the directions on the package.

Cut the mushrooms in quarters (or sixths if they're large). Wash the arugula, remove the bigger stems, and tear it in large pieces. Sauté the mushrooms in the olive oil for five minutes. Drain the tomatoes, saving the juice for another use, and add them along with the arugula. Sauté another couple of minutes. Spoon into a large serving bowl. Cut the gorgonzola in large dice and stir it into the vegetables.

Drain the pasta well and add it to the bowl. Add freshly-ground pepper and toss well.

Serves 4-6.

It even looks like health food (before the pasta and cheese are added).

Arugula and Figs

There was beautiful arugula at the farmers market on Sunday. I brought some home and paired it with sweet figs - our first harvest of the year - and salty parmesan for a fun and zesty salad.

Arugula and Figs
1 bunch arugula, heavy stems removed
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
3 figs, quartered
a few shavings of parmesan
1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary leaves

Toss the arugula with the olive oil and lemon juice. Season with a little salt and pepper.

Pile the arugula on a platter, arrange the figs around the edges and sprinkle the parmesan shavings (made by running a vegetable peeler over a block of parmesan) and fresh rosemary over the top.

Serves 2-3

Pasta with Arugula

Flora Bella Farms had the most beautiful young arugula last week, and I knew exactly what to do with it.

I picked up a 6oz container of crimini mushrooms (the brown ones that turn into portabellos if they get big), and a 5oz container of crumbled gorgonzola, picked a couple of tomatoes from the garden, and made a meal which I think comes pretty darned close to heaven.

(My body does too. Arugula is a cruciferous vegetable, so it has the cancer-fighting properties of broccoli. It's high in minerals, vitamins and antioxidants. And in this dish the arugula is lightly cooked in a little olive oil, which helps the body absorb the nutrients. Healthy and heavenly. Aren't vegetables great?)

The kick of the arugula comes through in this dish, but is tamed by the richness of the mushrooms and cheese. A few grindings of pepper, and you have a vigorous pasta dish that is not for the faint of heart. But boy, it's hard to stop at one serving.

Pasta with Arugula and Gorgonzola
8 oz penne
2 tbsp olive oil
6 oz mushrooms
2 tomatoes, diced
1 bunch arugula
5 oz crumbled gorgonzola
freshly-ground pepper

Cook the penne according to the directions on the packet. (You are using organic pasta, right?)

Warm the olive oil in a large skillet. Wipe the mushrooms clean and cut them in quarters or sixths depending on the size. Add to the skillet and cook about 5 minutes. Wash the arugula, discarding any yellowed leaves. Cut off the long stems at the bottom if they are tough. Chop the leaves coarsely (no need to rip out the stems if they're soft).

Add the tomatoes and arugula to the skillet, turn in the olive oil and let cook a couple of minutes until the arugula is wilted. Tip into a serving bowl. Stir in the gorgonzola.

Drain the pasta and add to the bowl. The tomatoes and mushrooms should have released enough juice that it is a moist dish, but add some of the pasta cooking water if needed.

Season with lots of pepper.

Toss well and serve hot.

Serves 4 in theory.

Grazing the Garden

I went out to the garden before lunch the other day, and harvested some salad ingredients.

Our lettuces are too small to make a good-sized green salad, so I used a butter lettuce from Finley Farms as a base. To this soft sweet lettuce, I added the following:

tender leaves:
young lettuce
various mesclun

spicy leaves:
wild arugula
nasturtium leaves
watercress

flowers:
nasturtiums - just the petals
arugula
watercress

herbs:
marjoram
thyme
oregano

I felt good sharing this bounty with my family. Unfortunately, by the time the salad was dressed with honey balsamic vinaigrette, the flavors were muted. That might have been a good thing, because I was not feeding adventurous eaters.

And I wanted them to eat this dish. A diversity of plants gives us a diversity of nutrients, so this was one healthy salad.

Comfort Food

Sometimes I just want a bowl of delicious goodness.

That's when I turn to this simple yet soul-satisfying dish.

White beans cooked with garlic, steamed greens, and a drizzle of fruity olive oil. It's a wonderful combination of flavors and soothing textures.

If you haven't cooked dried beans before, this is the recipe to start with. If you're not sure how fresh your beans are, start it early in the day. Cook until the beans are soft, then turn off the heat and let them sit on the stove until you start the greens, about 15 minutes before you're ready to eat. Reheat and serve.

If you want to use canned beans, use 2 14-oz cans. Drain off the can juice and reheat them with some vegetable stock or water along with the seasonings. It won't be quite as delicious (or cheap) but it will be good.

For the greens, I was lucky enough to get rapini and lamb's quarters from the Flora Bella stand at the Hollywood Farmers Market. You can use spinach, dandelions, chard, turnip greens, beet greens, whatever you have. If you're not used to bitter greens like dandelion, add some sweet greens like chard and spinach to tone it down. (The bitter greens are excellent for the liver, so try to use some of them.)

In the past, I have only made this recipe when Larry was out of town. I believed he would not like it. But I was wrong. I cooked it last week when I was craving some good greens, and he said he really liked it. And he ate it as leftovers too, so I believe him.

Italian Greens and Beans
1 lb white beans
1 red chile, dried or fresh
3 bay leaves
3 cloves garlic
salt and pepper
1 lb greens (or 2 bunches)
olive oil

Sort the beans and discard any dirt or stones. Rinse them and put them in a large pot with the chile and bay leaves. Peel the garlic and throw it in too. Add boiling water from the kettle to cover by 2 inches. (Use cold tap water if you don't have enough boiling.) Bring to the boil and cook, covered, until the beans are tender. I used white lima beans from Lompoc, probably harvested this year, so they only took 90 minutes to cook. Yours might take up to 4 hours. Plan accordingly. And remember, it's better to cook them early and let them sit than it is to serve crunchy beans.

(Concerned about the gassy qualities of beans? The garlic helps eliminate them.)

Wash the greens well. (In this era of plastic mulch and drip irrigation, the greens might be clean. But if it's rained they can be quite muddy. Swish them in basins of cold water until no dirt is left in the bottom.) Put them in a large pot with an inch of boiling water in the bottom. Let them cook until the stems are tender, about 5 minutes. Drain them and chop into bite-sized pieces.

Taste the beans and add salt and pepper to enhance the flavor.

Using a slotted spoon, put some beans into a shallow soup bowl. Add a little of the bean juice. Spoon some greens on top. Drizzle with a little olive oil. And enjoy.

Serves 6. (But is great reheated the next day)