Greening the Pot

My First Husband and I went out to dinner last night at a new Greek restaurant in town.I had three side dishes because they only had sauteed veggies for a non meat entree. (Was not in the mood for fish)
So I ordered from the side dish section of the menu and had the most delicious spinach and rice dish with tomato called spanakorizo. MMMM. I also had steamed chickory with olive oil poured over the top with lemon wedges. Along with stuffed grape leaves. Having eyes bigger than my stomach, I took half of it home. But I realized I had a whole bunch of greens for dinner. Spinach, chickory, grape leaves. Is that why I got up at 6 this morning, did a load of laundry and hand washed a buch of handwashables before sitting here?

The steamed chickory reminded me of using greens in any saute or soup. My mother used to do this:

Soup
3 cloves garlic
finely chopped onion - if you are in the mood for onion.
olive oil. My mom used a lot, I use less. I think 1/4 cup is good.
can of beans (white kidney, white navy, butter beans, cranberry beans, cannelinni, whatever)
water
bunch of greens, any type - escarole, chickory, kale, Swiss chard, spinach - washed and chopped
salt & pepper


Saute the garlic and onion (if you are in the mood) in the olive oil. Do not brown, just cook over medium low heat until it is really wilted.
Open a can of beans and rinse them if you want. Most times I do.
Put the can of beans in the garlic olive oil and (maybe) onion.
Let it heat up.
Add some water so that it is soupy...maybe a cup maybe more.
Add the greens.
Cook until tender.....depending on the greens. Just keep tasting and if seems done, it is.

It is important to eat leafy greens if you are a vegan. Did you know that whole grains limit the absorption of iron, calcium and zinc.? Not to say that you should not eat them. Just don't rely on them exclusively. Keep that diet really varied and take some supplements.