DOUBLE YOUR GREENS

It’s one of my favourite tricks, to avoid boredom at the table. Not one green, but two at the same time. Or three.

Not just peas with the roast chook, but peas and green beans together.

Not just green beans with the wedge of quiche, but green beans and asparagus.

Not just asparagus with the whole baked snapper, but shredded silver beet and beans and peas, with grated parmigiano.

THIS IS NOT ME TELLING YOU TO EAT YOUR GREENS.

I’m not your mother. You are your mother now.

Besides, you already know about vitamin K, and cruciferous (lovely word) things and folate (brain food) and lutein and antioxies and the gang.

This is just me saying, hey, why eat varietal when you can eat a blend?

This 3-bean mix, for instance:  Roman beans ( those lovely flat, scallop-edged beauties that are so in right now), and green beans, and edamame beans. I threw in some rocket and a lemony vinaigrette, and served them with felafel and a jug of yoghurt tahini (not shown).

Or you could shred roast chicken, coat it in the tahini and add broccolini…

Or you could warm some hot-smoked salmon and pull it apart and strew it over beans, peas, and sprouts (recipe below).

6 WAYS TO DOUBLE YOUR GREENS: ESPECIALLY IF YOU HATE SMOOTHIES AND STIR-FRIES AS MUCH AS I DO.

1/ Buy twice as many greens and half as much meat. Bulk up the plate with grains instead.

2/ Add a side dish of your favourite greens – broccolini, asparagus and peas, maybe – instead of salad. Goes with everything.

Last night it was asparagus on the side, which I have had A LOT lately. So I pulled half a bunch of silver beet out of the crisper, shredded it, dunked it briefly in simmering salted water, tossed it in butter, lemon juice and pepper, and threw it on top. I’ve never put silver beet and asparagus together before, but it was gorgeous.

3/ Only have one veg in the house? Cook it two ways. For example, de-stem and shred kale, and sweat most of it down in a hot pan. Save a handful of leaves, massage them with a tiny bit of oil and sea salt and bake for 10 minutes until crisp. Serve the wilted kale underneath *your choice of dinner* and the kale chips on top.

4/ Set out a plate of crisp raw baby vegetables and hummus as you finish pulling dinner together.  Everyone will eat vegetables before the hot food comes out, when they’re hungry. Nobody will later, when they’re not.

5/ Turn greens into a meal by adding a fried or poached egg on top. Or, Terry would like to add, egg and bacon. A whole fresh, creamy burrata and some finely sliced citrus would be beautiful.

6/ Instead of dressing your greens, turn your greens into the dressing, ie in a creamy green goddess sauce.  Recipe here, or at its simplest: just whiz half an avocado with half a cup of buttermilk or yoghurt, parsley, spring onion greens, maybe some rocket, a little grated garlic, a spoonful of whole-egg mayo to enrich, and lemon juice and honey to taste.

HOT-SMOKED SALMON WITH DOUBLE YOUR GREENS

The chive and lemon dressing is equally good with fresh salmon, seared in the pan, or hot-smoked salmon warmed in the oven, or hot-smoked trout, or fresh river trout, oven-baked. Serves 4

• 400 g hot-smoked NZ salmon or smoked trout

• 250 g small Brussels sprouts, halved lengthwise

• 250 g green beans, topped not tailed

• 200 g peas

• Sea salt and cracked black pepper

Chive and lemon dressing:

• 2 tbsp lemon juice

• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

• 1 tbsp honey

• 1 tbsp snipped chives or dill

• Half tsp sea salt

Heat the oven to 180C (conventional). Place the fish (skin-on) on an oven tray lined with baking paper, lightly cover with a scrunch of foil and heat through for 10 minutes. 

Whisk the lemony dressing ingredients together and set aside.

Cook the brussels sprouts and beans in simmering salted water for 3 minutes. Add the peas and bring back to the boil, then drain.

Remove the skin from the fish and scrape off any discoloured surface. Roughly break up the fish into bite-sized chunks.

Spoon the greens over four warm plates, strew fish on top, spoon over the chive and lemon dressing and serve.

Made this last year for Good Food Kitchen TV, then handed it over to William Meppem to photograph. In 5 seconds flat, he had it styled, shot, and looking a million bucks. The good ones make it look easy.

Thanks for reading! And special thanks to my right-hand man, Terry Durack, for bringing home the Roman beans: I’d forgotten how delightful they are. Next time, I want to stew them in tomatoes and maybe saffron, and shower them with parmigiano.

I would also like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the lands and waters upon which I work, live, cook and play; the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. I fully support the Uluru Statement from the Heart, and for an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voice to be enshrined in Australia’s Constitution. It’s about time, folks.