Winter Greens with Pickled Stems and DC Spicy Harissa

In Feb 2020, Slow Food DC board members Ibti Vincent and Mark Haskell presented a Rooting DC workshop session, No Waste Cooking and a Changing Climate, which focused on choosing the right food crops for your garden for radical changes in weather and climate, and a no waste cooking demonstration of such crops and ingredients. This is one of the recipes they prepared….

Ingredients

-A selection of sweet winter collard, kale, mustard greens, with central stem cut out and leaves shredded

-Diced onions or leeks

-Crushed garlic

-Olive oil, veg oil, or rendered fat 

-Sweetener (sugar, honey, sorghum, or maple syrup)

-Deseeded red hot chiles (fresh or hydrated dry)

-Peeled cooked red peppers

-Garlic puree

-1/2 cup cider vinegar

-Cumin

-Coriander seeds

-Lemon zest (optional) 

Instructions

Cut stems 1/2 inch long at an angle

To make harissa, puree red hot chiles, cooked red peppers, garlic, vinegar. Season with salt, cumin, coriander, lemon zest, and sweetener to taste. 

To make brine to pickle, bring 1/2 cup cider vinegar, 1/2 cup water to boil, add and dissolve 1 tablespoon salt, 1 tablespoon sugar into brine. Reduce volume by a quarter, turn off heat and add stems and allow to sit at least 15 minutes.

Sauté onions/leeks in oil or fat until soft.

Add shredded green leaves, sauté and turn over until wilted, add fennel seeds.

Add drained pickled stems and garlic - sauté and turn over, add splash of pickle brine to hydrate. When soft, season with salt & pepper.

Add harissa to taste (or on side if preferred) and serve.