Pure Hunger

Our harvest baskets are finally starting to fill. Hours at the garden are flying by with plenty of pea picking, green cutting and squashing slashing. I’m elated. The spring has drug on far to long into my precious summer and I’ve been patiently waiting for the fruits of our labor to start paying off. Selfishly, I’ve been waiting for those rare mustard greens I raved about in this post. Then this winter, I found this recipe and just about leapt out of my chair in glee. Little did I know it would be another 6 months before I would have enough mustard greens to even give the recipe a shot. I was also not aware of how low my motivation to buy ingredients would be when I finally had enough mustards to try the recipe. I looked around a bit more and found this recipe and made a few tweaks.

Ingredients

1 Tbsp coconut oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 clove garlic , thinly sliced
1 tsp ginger powder
1-1/2 Tbsp Curry paste
1/4 tsp red chile flakes
1 bunch of mustard greens, tough stems removed and leaves roughly torn and washed (about 5 cups)*
3/4 cup coconut milk
1/4 cup dried shredded coconut (unsweetened)
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 sausage, lightly cooked and diced

* If you don’t have mustards available, just use spinach, kale or chard and throw in a tablespoon of dijon. I used a mix of mustards and chard so not to over power the dish.

Someday I would like to try to original recipe I found as it seems to be more authentic in flavors and ingredients. Most recently, however, I have been trying to use what I have available while still spicing up our dinner menu. The second recipe came close and I only made a few adjustments to account for what I had available at home.

It’s terrific. It has that kick of mustard similar to eating a bite of dijon with the sweet and mellow flavor of the coconut to smooth out your palate. I loved it and so did my husband. This will definitely be a regular dish as long as those mustard greens keep flowing from the garden.

Heat the coconut oil over medium-high heat in a heavy-bottomed pot. Add the onion saute until golden-edged and beginning to soften, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and ginger powder and saute for a minute more. Add the curry paste and red chile flakes. Stir until fragrant, about a minute.

Add the mustard greens and stir for a minute or two until they are wilted. Add the coconut milk, shredded coconut, and a pinch of sea salt, and stir to scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Cover and simmer gently for about 10 minutes, until the greens are tender. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and serve.