Spring Greens With Preserved Lemon & Olives

By SFCook

San Francisco Chronicle 4/27/14: Serve these greens with pita wedges or chips, or alone as a side dish for meat or fish. You can buy preserved lemons at many well-stocked grocers. Use whatever mild greens you prefer. Dandelion greens are great in this, and are in season in the Spring.

Ingredients

• 1 pound mixed leafy, mild-flavored greens, such as dandelion greens, baby kale and spinach, stems removed and roughly chopped
• 1 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 3 cloves garlic, unpeeled but papery husk removed
• 1/2 cup roughly chopped cilantro leaves
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt + more to taste
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil + more for finishing
• 1/4 teaspoon sweet paprika
• Pinch hot red pepper flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin, or more to taste
• Juice of 1/2 lemon + more to taste
• 1/4 preserved lemon
• 12 Moroccan oil-cured olives, pitted and soaked in several batches of water to remove salt

Preparation

Step 1

Wash the greens until the water runs clear. Place a steamer basket into to a large pot. Pour enough water into the pot to come just below the basket; add the greens, parsley and garlic, pushing down the greens, if needed, to fit into the pot. Cover, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium low and steam the greens and garlic until tender, about 15 minutes.
Remove the basket from the pot, and let cool until easy to handle. Remove the garlic and set aside; squeeze out as much moisture as possible from the greens and chop finely.
Peel the garlic; place in a mortar with the cilantro and the 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt and crush to a paste.
Heat the 3 tablespoons olive oil in a 10-inch skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic paste and the chopped greens, and cook over medium-low heat until the liquid evaporates, about 10 minutes, turning the mixture often to avoid burning.
Stir in the paprika, hot pepper flakes, cumin and lemon juice. Remove from the heat and transfer to a mixing bowl. Cool slightly; then vigorously stir in enough oil to make the texture similar to creamed spinach. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving.
Before serving, adjust the seasoning with more salt, cumin and lemon juice if necessary; whip once more to lighten the mixture. Rinse the preserved lemon and remove the pulp, then slice the peel into slivers. Shape the greens mixture into a smooth mound and top with the slivered lemon peel and black olives.

Per serving: 125 calories, 3 g protein, 9 g carbohydrates, 10 g fat (1 g saturated), 0 mg cholesterol, 236 mg sodium, 3 g fiber.