Sweet Potato Quiche - an inspired post...

A Few days ago, my favorite Hotass posted a link to a video recipe. A recipe that was for quiche, but used very thinly sliced sweet potato slices layered to make the crust. One kitchen gadget that I have that I don't use as much as I should is my mandoline. The Aussie got it for me for my birthday several years back, and it makes the best thin sliced anything. Including fingers, but that's another story. Speaking of stories, this post is actually inspired by a person called North, who loves healthy eating. ;)

I pretty much always have sweet potatoes on hand, so I decided that this would be a great recipe to make for lunch. To make this, you'll need the following:

1 large sweet potato, peeled and very thinly sliced
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 bag of baby greens (kale, spinach, etc)
2 ounces shredded cheese (I used an alpine style that I had on hand)
4 eggs
1/2 cup milk
spices: salt, pepper, garlic powder, nutmeg, cayenne
cooking spray
olive oil

Thinly slice a large sweet potato. Spray your pie pan with quick release spray, and layer the slices on the bottom and sides of the pan. Cut slices in half to form the side layer. Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.

While the crust bakes, drizzle some olive oil in to a hot pan. Toss in a thinly sliced onion (I had half of a very large onion in the refrigerator). Cook over medium high heat for about 5 minutes until the onion softens. Next, add in several handfuls of greens. The video used half of a bag of baby spinach. I am not a fan of spinach these days (it makes a squeaky feeling on my teeth when I eat it) so I used a package of baby kale. In hindsight, I would chop the baby kale in to small pieces to make cutting the pie easier. Cook for 5-10 minutes, until the greens are wilted. Season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and a pinch of nutmeg.

In a bowl, whisk together 4 eggs and half a cup of milk. Add in 1/2 t of salt, several grinds of black pepper (I love black pepper, so I used a lot of it), and a pinch of cayenne pepper.

Layer the greens and onions in the pie shell, distributing fairly evenly.
 

Top the greens with 2 ounces of shredded cheese.

 Pour the egg mixture over the greens and cheese. Bake for 35 minutes at 375 degrees.

Slice and enjoy!

Eat Your Greens Hearty Winter Soup

Greens, greens, they're good for your heart... well, that's not how the rhythm goes, but greens are very good for you. In fact, 1 cup of chopped kale contains nearly 3 grams of protein, and over 100% of your vitamins A and C. Not too shabby, right?  It isn't a budget buster, either. In fact, none of the ingredients in my kale and lentil soup are budget busters, especially if you make your own chicken stock. The bay leaf might be priciest thing, and it's pretty much optional. I have a bunch because my mom has a huge bay plant. Which reminds me, I need to beg for more bay leaves...

Kale and Lentil Soup

1 T olive oil

3 leeks, well rinsed, cut lengthwise and then thinly sliced

4 ribs of celery, sliced

4 carrots, sliced

1 lb of lentils

8 ounces of chopped kale, rinsed (that's 1/2 of one of these huge bags)

1 can diced tomatoes

4 cups chicken stock

2-3 cups water

1/4 cup red wine (I had it on hand, it's optional)

1 bay leaf (optional)

2 T Worcestershire sauce

Before serving:

2 T red wine vinegar - add at the end, before serving - it brightens up the flavors

dash of hot sauce

Set your pressure cooker to saute. Drizzle in your olive oil and let the pot heat up for a minute or two while you are chopping the vegetables. Add in your leeks and celery first, stirring them around to coat with the olive oil. Cook for a minute or two and then add the sliced carrots and cook for a minute. Next, add your lentils. Stir to combine with the vegetables, then add in the kale and diced tomatoes. The half bag seriously filled up my cooker

Lastly, add in the liquids: chicken stock, water, red wine, Worcestershire sauce. If you're using a bay leaf, throw it in now. Set your cooker to high pressure for 20 minutes.  When it's done, do a quick release of the pressure. Before serving, I like to add a bit of red wine vinegar and hot sauce.  Black pepper and red pepper flakes rock, too. Season as you wish. By switching out the stock and seasoning, you can make this vegetarian or vegan. It is a seriously flexible and flavorful soup. 

For stovetop cooking, simply follow the directions using a dutch oven and let the soup simmer for about 35 minutes, or until the kale is tender.

Southern Flavor, Lickety Split

I had a dilemma. A couple of dilemmas, actually. When I went to the grocery store to buy ingredients for my bolognese, one of the items I purchased was pancetta. The guy at the deli counter must have been new, because he over-sliced and I ended up with half a pound of pancetta instead of a quarter pound. So, what to do with all of this pancetta? My second dilemma is one that vexes me continuously. My refrigerator freezes my vegetables. I have had to ditch too many bags of salad greens because they get frozen. Moving the bags around doesn't seem to change the fact that greens get frozen in my refrigerator. I had a large bag of collard greens sitting there that needed to be cooked before the damage was irreversible. Pancetta, meet collard greens. Collard greens, meet pancetta.

Southern Style Collard Greens 

2 slices of pancetta, diced
1/2 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, sliced
1 large bag of collard greens (I used Glory brand) very well rinsed *
3 cups chicken stock
1 t liquid smoke
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1/2 red pepper flakes
3 T red wine vinegar

* some recipes suggest you soak the greens for 30 minutes before cooking them.

With your cooker set to saute,  brown the pancetta, rendering the fat, for about 3 minutes. Next, add the diced onion and sliced garlic and cook until soft, this should take about 5 minutes. Be careful that you don't let the garlic burn. Add in the rinsed greens, smushing them down in the pot, along with the stock, liquid smoke, Worcestershire, red pepper and vinegar.

Secure the lid to your cooker, and lock it in place. Set it for 20 minutes at high pressure.  After the cooking is complete, turn it off, letting the pressure release naturally.

Word to the wise, let it cool just a teensy bit before you dig in. "Pot likker" gets mighty hot. And it's mighty tasty. The steam was rising off the pot. These greens were so tender, they practically melted. And they didn't take 2 hours to cook, either.