From 1996 – 1999 Clarissa Dickson Wright and Jennifer Paterson roared around on a motorbike with a sidecar, cooking, joking and having what looks like a great time for the BBC. Here are two side dishes, one using the dreaded swiss chard and one for potatoes, that I got from their book, ‘The Two Fat Ladies Full Throttle’.
Swiss Chard with Garlic and Anchovies
This is one of Clarissa’s recipes with my directions. Two pounds of swiss chard sounds like a lot, I used one bunch, 2 cloves of garlic and 4 salt packed anchovies, soaked in water and spines removed. Super fast, easy and delicious. I used the same method to cook broccolini and red cabbage a few days later. A squeeze of lemon juice and some red pepper flakes are good additions.
2 pounds swiss chard
2 Tablespoons olive oil
4 garlic cloves, sliced
1 small can anchovies, or a briny salty substitute
freshly ground black pepper
Wash the chard, separate stalks from greens. Cut stalks into 1 inch pieces and blanch in boiling water for a few minutes. Chop greens roughly and set aside.
In a frying pan, saute the garlic in the olive oil, add the anchovies, cook until the anchovies disintegrate, drain and add the chard stems, cover and cook until stems are tender, 10 minutes or so. Add the greens and cook a few minutes more until wilted. Season to taste with black pepper.
Roasted Fennel and Potatoes
Inspiration for this came from Jennifer Paterson’s recipe, ‘Pete’s Pommy Pommes’. I had some fennel that I needed to use so that went in as well.
Potatoes, enough to feed your family or how many you feel like eating, sliced about ¼ inch think and partially cooked in boiling water
olive oil, to coat, not drench
garlic, chopped
fennel, sliced about as thick as the potato slices
1 cup broth, I used a packet of instant miso, the sweetness of the miso was perfect with the fennel
ground black pepper
herbes de provence or whatever herbs you like with potato. Tarragon? Rosemary?
Salt, depending on the saltiness of the broth
Roasting pan, large enough so that the potatoes are in layers, not spread out
Spread pre-cooked potatoes, garlic and fennel in the roasting pan, add olive oil and toss to coat. Moisten with the broth, I went about ½ way up the layer of vegetables with liquid, season with salt and pepper and sprinkle herbs on top. Bake at 375 degree F until fork tender. A little browning on the edges of the potatoes is lovely.
@Sedevilc, you make both Swiss chard and fennel sound quite appetizing. I would easily do the chard, but I suffer from fear of fennel, because of the licorice taste. You may have convinced me to give it another chance!
We have a ton of spinach in the garden right now I need to figure out what to do with. I make a Korean side dish that uses lots of spinach as well as putting it in my marinara but I need something that uses way more. Any recipes people?
it isn’t my thing but people love spinach pie. or vegetable lasagna. how about a spinach pesto?
Pesto might be a plan. I was thinking of Spanakopita but have never tried to make it.
Pesto is so easy and you can freeze it.
Phyllo is fiddly, if you have the patience, go for it. Keep a damp towel over it so it doesn’t dry out while you are working.
If you like curries, any version of this is pretty amazing, too!
https://www.food.com/recipe/tanzanian-curried-spinach-with-peanut-butter-173495
The Thai (American?) version is Param Long Song, which typically goes over either steamed broccoli or Spinach;
https://importfood.com/recipes/recipe/150-thai-rama-chicken-praram-long-song
It’s one of my favorite curries, and the heat of the sauce is often enough to wilt the Spinach (haven’t tried this *exact* version, but they’re usually fairly similar).
Oh yeah! I love Rama chicken! These both look awesome!
@Loveshaq Spanakopita recipe I use.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/dinner-spanakopitas-recipe-1948859.amp
@HammerZeitgeist great timing, I was looking at another recipe and getting confused. This one has a video too! I am making this tonight and after harvesting a few pounds didn’t make a dent in the spinach section of the garden!
I’m going to need that Korean recipe @Loveshaq
Super easy, I sometimes put a little garlic in it but some people don’t like raw garlic.
https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/sigumchi-namul
Gonna make this!
Yes.
I must have missed this one…I’ll try it. Only bad thing is I need to make something else for my pescitarian if I do this or use fake beef? (waits for Butcher wrath!)
Before I’d ingest toxic fake beef, I would get some firm tofu and freeze it overnight. Then, break it up into the pot when cooking. It has the texture of ground beef at that point.
I find that making smoothies is the easiest way to use a lot of spinach.
I’m not a fan of chard but love cabbage. If I’m reading this right I can sub cabbage for the chard?
Yes, I used the exact same recipe to cook red cabbage and broccolini. I mixed them because I didn’t have much broccolini.
Bingo–we have a winner. I’ll be making this tonight because the last of the Dreaded Swiss Chard is ready for the 1st harvest.
It’s a little too hot for this right now (maybe not where you are) but you can use up a lot of spinach making hot/warm dips and mixing it in almost anywhere you see a pasta recipe, especially a baked one involving ricotta—lasagna, stuffed shells, manicotti, & etc. Anything eggy lends itself to spinach, like omelets or scrambled eggs or frittatas, and anywhere a poached egg is involved, as a topping. I love spinach so I sometimes use it place of lettuce, like on cheeseburgers. You can also sauté it in garlic and olive oil and add other stuff if you want. In the warmer months, spinach is often used in salads involving fruit: take a bunch of spinach and combine with feta cheese, or a provolone, and throw in strawberries or watermelon, that’s very common. Better Half used to make spinach smoothies but that was too much for me, one step closer to Soylent Green in my mind.
OK, American Council of Spinach Growers, where is my check for this spon-con?
Ooh!! And the spinach, feta (or blue/ gorgonzola!), thinly-sliced red onion, perhaps candied pecans/your other favorite candied nuts, and sliced strawberries (or raspberries or blueberries, if that’s your preferred fruit!), with poppyseed dressing is another excellent way to make a tasty spinach salad, too!😃
https://therecipecritic.com/strawberry-spinach-salad/
And it’s even a @Myopicprophet-friendly recipe–because you can go vegetarian/ vegan depending on what you add, AND one of the options calls for adding avocado!😉💖