We love greens! Kale, collards, beet greens and bok choy are a wonderful source of vital nutrients. Not only do they contain antioxidants, vitamins A, B and K, iron, lutein and omega-3s, but dark, leafy greens can also help reduce inflammation and lower cholesterol levels, and protect the immune system. Greens are actually better for you after they’ve been cooked, so here’s a recipe that uses cooked greens.

Everyone loves dip, right? So make your dip healthy and nutritious. This recipe makes a boatload of dip, so you can easily halve it, or serve it at a big party. Use it to fill a hollowed-out round of whole grain bread, or serve it with toasted whole-grain baguette slices – and a big platter of veggies.

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Greens Dip
Blue * Makes about 6 cups

2 large bunches spinach
1 bunch red chard
2 leeks
1 bunch elephant kale (the long, skinny, dark kind – but any kind would work)
8 cloves roasted garlic
1 cup Vegenaise
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
pine nuts (optional)
salt (or Bragg’s Liquid Aminos) and pepper to taste

Clean the greens under running water, or fill sink with cold water and let them soak, swirling them a few times to loosen dirt that will sink to the bottom. Rinse under running water and remove the stems, ripping the greens into 2″ pieces or so and putting them in a bowl. Shake off water when you rinse them, but leave a bit on the leaves.

Cut off the root end of the leek and the opposite end at a light green/still tender part. Cut in half length wise and rinse out any dirt, fanning the layers, then slice crosswise in 1/2″ pieces.

Heat a little olive oil in bottom of large saute pan or dutch oven. Add leeks and saute until soft – about 3-4 minutes. Add greens (you may have more greens than pot space at first, if so, just add till it’s full, then add the rest once it cooks down). Put lid on, reduce heat to med-low and let the greens steam down. Check it after about 4-5 minutes, stir to mix in with the leeks and add more cleaned greens until they’re all in the pot. Keep lid on, and check every 5-8 minutes, stirring to make sure nothing is sticking. If it seems a bit dry, add some water (or stock if you prefer). Season lightly with salt or Bragg’s and a bit of finely ground pepper.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the Veganaise, mustard, and nutritional yeast. This will make a thick sauce base, and for the dip I’d leave it like this and not dilute it (you can also take this base, dilute it with just a bit of water and have a nice, creamy salad dressing or dipping sauce for steamed veggies).

Once the greens are tender (not mushy, but tender), drain any excess liquid and let them cool for a few minutes. Place all but 1/2 cup of the greens in the food processor, along with 6 cloves of the garlic. Start by adding about 1/2-3/4 cup of the Veganaise mix. Blend, and really the additional sauce base you add is up to you – how creamy do you want it. Blend till completely smooth.

Take remaining 1/2 cup of greens, chop finely and fold into dip. Take the remaining 2 cloves of roasted garlic, chop finely and fold into dip. (Optional – put it all in the blender and blend so there is still some texture, but it’s basically chopped.)

If you want the pine nuts, toast them in a hot pan till just browning. Let cool and sprinkle on top of dip.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010 at 9:03 am and is filed under Articles - Food, Recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.