Greens with Tahini
Posted by kathryn in Vegan, Vegetables and Autumn
I’ve been eating this a lot recently.
It’s partly due to the vegie box I’ve started getting. Almost every week the box has been chock full of greenery. Basil, silverbeet, watercress, bok choy, water spinach, parsley, Chinese broccoli, coriander, amaranth and even sweet potato leaves have been in there. Freshly picked and bursting with luscious goodness, I’ve wanted to eat them straight away.
This also coincided with me re-discovering one of my old cookery books. It’s a small thin, paper covered book by Airdre Grant, called The Good Little Cookbook. Full of really simple, clean flavoured, macrobiotic based food, I’d pulled it off the shelf to check on some ingredients. During the course of flicking through I was reminded about this gem of a recipe.
Since then, I’ve been eating Greens with Tahini at least twice a week.
A couple of times I’ve eaten it straight up, served on toast. But I’ve also topped the greens with a poached egg, had it on brown rice, stirred through some almonds and sauteed some slivers of tofu to place on top. It’s a simple and flexible way of using up loads of greens.
I make this with large handfuls of greenery – whatever I have in the fridge. I wash them, cut the most obvious bits of stalk off and then give them a quick chop, about 3 – 4 cuts with a knife. That’s it.
Greens with Tahini
Per person I use:
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- at least 3 large handfuls of mixed greens – see preparation note above
- 1 tablespoon tahini
- 2 teaspoons shoyu
- Optional: 2 teaspoons rice vinegar or a squeeze of lemon juice
Heat the oil in a wok or frying pan, over a medium-high heat. You’re wrangling a lot of greens, so this does need to be quite big. Once hot, but not smoking, add the greens and toss them in the oil. Cook, stirring regularly, for about 5 minutes, until the greens are wilted, but not mush.
Turn the heat off and add the tahini, shoyu and rice vinegar (if using). Stir this through, until all the greens are coated and creamy. Serve immediately.
01 April, 2010
Comments
Delish.
What did the sweet potato leaves taste like? I’m intrigued…
ooh, it’s farmers’ market day today, maybe I can get some greenhouse greens and make this for dinner!
I love this! No fuss and it works with any green. Perfect.
Lucy – the sweet potato leaves were really good. Big, luscious things, which have a slightly bitter and slightly lemony flavour. Loved ’em.
Kelly – I do like someone who gets excited about their greenery! Let me know if you do make it. Reckon it’s one of those recipes which is ripe for adaptations.
Michelle – glad to read your enthusiasm. I particularly like using a mixture of greens, but any will do.
Oh these looks quick and easy. Very healthy too. I might need to give it a try.
I’ve tried this sort of sauce with silverbeet but love that it can extend to all sorts of greens – this post would be really useful for me in tandem with your post on how to deal with a vegetable box because I am afraid of how to deal with lots of greens if I got a box but would love them this way
Hi Kathryn, sounds very tasty and I do love tahini… I was wondering about the oil content in tahini? Healthy? Good fats? Because I can scarf loads of tahini no problem, but I’m never sure if it’s good/bad/inbetween for me…
Well, a wee bird (that’d be my mate Jo) told me she made this on the weekend and is in love.
I’m jealous of your sweet potato leaves (not really, but you know what I mean) ’cos they sound delish!
Oh my goodness. All those greens sound stupendous! I know I am at the opposite end of the year from you but I am itching to get hold of some more unusual greens to try this. Sweet potato leaves are a new one on me.
I posted on this both on TreeHugger under Weekday Vegetarian: Wilted Greens with Tahini and on Planet Green where I did a variation. Planet Green isn’t up yet, they’ve been having some technical difficulties. They were both delicious
This was really nice! I cooked up a big batch of kale using this recipe and my husband and I really enjoyed it. This recipe is a keeper, thanks for sharing.
Mark, it is a really easy dish and very tasty, let me know if you do make it.
Johanna, I tend to think of most leafy green things as one vegetable, ie “greens”, and I mix and match according to what’s in the fridge. It’s a trick I’ve learnt from Jamie Oliver and I find it really useful.
Andrea, I’ve written quite a bit about tahini over the years, including its nutrition. Most of the information can be found via this links page.
Lucy, good to hear!
Helen, while you might be on the other side of the world, you should still be able to get some fabulous greens. Spring is also a great month for greenery. I’m thinking young watercress, spinach, rocket . . .
Kelly, glad to hear you enjoyed the greens and thanks for putting the link up. I saw your Treehugger piece and both your meals looked gorgeous!
Susan, thanks so much for letting me know you used the recipe and am glad to hear you enjoyed it. Kale would be perfect cooked this way.
Fantastic recipe. I tried this tonight an it was really tasty. Also threw in some garlic shoots for a bit of crunch. Thanks!
Sounds great! and so healthy, good to finally find a blog that has some interest in nutritional content not just entirely on taste and indulgence
This looks amazing, thanks for sharing. I’m off to raid my garden of all its greenery.
Coupons bring out the adventurous chef in me, as I feel I can justify bypassing the old standbys in favor of uncharted culinary territory. I’ve been quite the saver lately, so I’m really starting to mix in some fresh greens that go beyond the normal lettuce family fare.
I recently discovered, watercress, and really enjoy it with half an avocado, heaps of spinach, a dash of cilantro, and a couple of poached eggs.
I love hummus, so adding tahani to a salad sounds like something I would like. If anything, my meals could use some flavor, so I’m going to try replacing my run of the mill vinaigrette with the sesame seed oil, lemon, shoyu triumvirate.
-Paula
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