Rabbit Food

You know what the secret is to bitter greens?

Wait.  Do you know what bitter greens are?  Let’s review: mustard greens, collard greens, turnip greens, beet greens, dandelion greens, endive (no, the title doesn’t have to end in greens to be in the bitter club), and most importantly Kale.

I was first introduced to kale by my young rabbit, Streak.  You know, the one I begged for (at Easter) and promised I’d walk and bathe everyday?  Yeah.  Her.  I mean him. Turns out she was a he.  Anyway.  The bunny could eat some kale.  Bales of it.  And I always thought of it as mere rabbit food and didn’t realize how much I loved it, until, well, I tried it.

Funny how that works.  You think you hate something and you try it and you like it.

I made a particularly delicious Indian-inspired meal with this rabbit food just this evening.  Here, I’ll show you:

Wait.  That’s not the good side. Really, I swear, it is much more appealing than this.  Lemme show you the picture with good lighting.

Better?  I know.  Don’t say it.  You don’t have to, we all know it, some peoples’ kids are just ugly.  Just nod, smile, say they have a “loveable face” and move on.

Indian Inspired Potatoes with Bitter Greens (serves 2)
1/4 tsp ground mustard
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp tikka masala (or garam masala)
3 red potatoes, cooked and diced
–I steamed a couple of pounds of spuds early in the week to be reincarnated into delicious meals later in the week
1 onion, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
4 cups kale
1 cup white beans (chick peas would be better)
1 tomato, diced
1 T lemon juice
salt and pepper

Saute diced onion and garlic in ground mustard, ginger, masala, salt, and pepper.  Add potatoes and cook until they begin to crisp.  Add tomato and cook about 1-2 minutes until they begin to break down.  Fold in beans.  5 minutes before serving, add kale.  It will cook down and become bright green.  Add kale in increments if your pan is small.  Just before serving sprikle with lemon juice.

Um.  Lemon juice.  Yeah.  Essential.  Or  you could use vinegar, too.  What makes bitter greens less bitter and better is adding butter acid.  That is the secret to bitter greens.