Sprout & Pea

Sum­mer has arrived! Almost. There are still a few cool days that keep rear­ing their heads but that is quite alright with me. Those ever so slightly cool evenings make for a per­fect night to have friends over for a meal and some red wine. My friend and I have spent this past week tag-​​teaming inven­tive recipes using our giant box of Lan­caster Farms CSA veg­gies. Fri­day night after work, she and I and a few other friends gath­ered in my kitchen and “impromptued” a per­fect fall-​​into-​​summer dinner.

With an enor­mous bag of mus­tard greens, we had plans to cook them down with some onions and gar­lic and were play­ing around with thoughts of mix­ing in some white beans. On my sub­way ride home, I started day­dream­ing about our meal and decided that a poached egg would round this out per­fectly and my friend agreed. While the greens were sautéing, we tossed a few ideas back and forth until my favorite white bean puree recipe popped into my head. My friend’s eyes widened with excite­ment when I said we should place the greens on top of this and so that’s exactly what we did. After pho­tograph­ing the first dish, so it wouldn’t get cold, we all sat down at the table and had at it fam­ily style. It was gone in sec­onds and we pro­ceeded to devour the next two plates of it in min­utes. It was a per­fect Fri­day night with the best com­pany and a sur­prise meal that pleased us all. For a great pod­cast and arti­cle on the health ben­e­fits of mus­tard greens, check out WNYC’s Last Chance Foods. Here’s how to make this dish…

Serves 3

Bean Puree:
1 can can can­nellini beans (drain and dis­card liq­uid)
1/​8 cup veg­etable broth
1 clove gar­lic
2 tsp olive oil
1 tbs white vine­gar
2–3 tbs apple cider vine­gar
1 sprig of rosemary

Com­bine beans, veg­etable broth, olive oil and vine­gars in food proces­sor and blend until smooth. Add gar­lic and rose­mary and pulse until mixed in.

Mus­tard Greens:
1 bag of mus­tard greens
1 large white onion diced
3 cloves of chopped gar­lic
2 sprigs of thyme
2 sprigs of rose­mary
2 tbs extra vir­gin olive oil
Salt and pep­per to taste

Add onions, gar­lic and olive oil to a medium-​​large pot (I used a Le Creuset). Sautee over medium-​​high heat until the onions begin to soften. Slowly add the mus­tard greens, toss­ing and allow­ing to cook down. You can cover the pot for a minute or two to help cook down the greens, con­tinue adding the mus­tard greens until entire bag is cooked down. Sea­son with salt and pep­per to taste (I added a few small pinches of salt)

Poached Egg:
In a sep­a­rate pot, boil about 2 inches of water and add a few table­spoons of white vine­gar. Once water comes to boil, reduce to sim­mer. Crack an egg into a small cup and pour egg into sim­mer­ing water, using a spoon to pull the whites of the egg towards the yolk. Let sim­mer for about 3–4 min­utes. Remove egg

While the eggs are poach­ing, pre­pare your plates with a large scoop or two of the bean puree and top with the mus­tard greens. When eggs are ready, place on top of the greens and sprin­kle with cracked black pepper.