August 1

The Three R's

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• Beans 'n' Greens [View Recipe]

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  Ingredients

  • 5 cups stirfry greens (<howto label="salad"/>)
  • .5 tablespoon oil
  • .5 medium onion (peeled, halved,thinly sliced)
  • salt
  • 1 can beans (rinsed and drained)
  • cheese (freshly grated)
  • cilantro (cleaned)
  • cheesy polenta (similar to <a year="2002" month="01" day="24" label="cheesy_grits">Cheesy Grits</a> )

  Instructions

  We start by cleaning the small leaves of the stir-fry greens early in the day and then storing the dry leaves in the fridge in large resealable plastic bags.

  We heat the oil over medium heat in a large cast-iron skillet and add the onion. The skillet had also been used in the same meal to roast garlic (for the accompanying <a day="01" label="salsa">salsa</a>), providing a little additional flavoring. We cook the onions, stirring often for about 5 minutes. We want the slivers of onion to soften and get lightly browned.

  Next, we add the washed greens and toss with tongs. We want them to wilt and get infused with the onion. The mixture is sprinkled with salt and then the beans are added. We continue to cook, stirring, for a few minutes until the beans are hot and the greens are tender.

  We serve the beans and greens over cheesy polenta, sprinkled with cheese, salsa, and cilantro.

• Tomatillo Chipotle Salsa [View Recipe]

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  Ingredients

  • 9 ounces tomatillos
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 4 canned chipotle chiles
  • salt

  Instructions

  We start by preheating the broiler with the rack a few inches below the elements. Our cast-iron skillet is also preheated over medium heat.

  The tomatillos, one at a time, are de-husked with clean hands, rinsed, and patted dry. We place them on a foil-covered sheet pan with sides. When the broiler is hot, the tomatillos are cooked for 5 minutes under the broiler. We want one side to soften and blacken slightly. They are turned over with tongs and cooked on the other side for another 5 minutes. The sheet pan is removed from the oven, set aside to cool, and the broiler turned off.

  Meanwhile, we place the garlic, still with its peel, in the hot cast-iron skillet for a few minutes. Sometimes we roast the garlic alongside the tomatillos in the oven, but it is easier to control their doneness on top of the stove and we will use the garlic-infused pan for our dinner anyway! When the garlic cloves start to blacken, we turn them with tongs. We want the garlic softened inside and the peels to darken and nearly come off. This takes about 12 minutes altogether.

  When the garlic is roasted, we remove it to a cutting board and let cool for a few minutes. The peels are removed and the garlic is coarsely chopped.

  We put the cooled roasted tomatillos (with as much juice as we can get from the foil-lined sheet pan), the chopped garlic, and the chipotle chiles in the chopping attachment to our immersion blender. We blend until nearly smooth and then add a ¼ cup of water to thin slightly.

  We add a pinch of salt and transfer the salsa to a bowl. We taste for seasoning and then store the cup of salsa covered in the fridge until we are ready to use throughout the week.