I’ll Beet the Green Out of You

Yes, I know, I want to put an egg on everything.

When I was visiting Rooms in Maine, I toured her very lovely garden. That bitch has everything (or at least will later in the season): parsley, cilantro, chives, dill, kale, beets, rhubarb, lemon balm, tomatoes (like 6 heirloom varieties), peas, lettuce, mint, um, idontknow, and I’m probably missing 3 or 4 things. It’s redic.

So after I filled with luggage with goodies from Tran’s, I had Rooms cut me some herbs and greens from her garden to take home as well. And while the herbs were a little smashed up, the kale and beet greens stayed fresh.

And yea, I had no idea you could eat the greens that sprout from beets (see bottom right corner for sample beet green). I think they’re more delicate than kale, but more or less taste like any green that’s been wilted in oil. And I really can’t wait til I have a yard with a garden and a gardener. The beauty that is walking outside, just a few feet, to pick some fresh herbs, is simply a cook’s dream. Or at least mine.

Post jump–my Tran’s/Rooms inspired noodle dish

Wilted Greens with Buckwheat Noodles

Even though Asian noodles often come packed in bundles, I’m still unsure how many bundles are in a serving, i.e. the buckwheat noodle package I used for this dish read that there were 4 servings per package, but there were 5 bundles. UGH! Anyway, I used one bundle for this meal.

Boil noodles as directed. Actually, that was another problem. There weren’t directions on the package. I boiled them for maybe 5 minutes, but they came out kinda clumpy. I’m really not projecting a voice of authority, am I?

Let me start over. Toast about 1T of sesame seeds until slightly browned, keep in pan and add a tiny bit of sesame oil, 2 cloves of smashed garlic and chopped kale and beet greens.

Throw your buckwheat noodles in the water.

In a small bowl, pour in low sodium soy sauce, fish sauce, chili garlic sauce and stream in sesame oil. Make sure it has a kick.

Once the greens are tender, remove them from the pan but keep them warm. In the same pan, (and there should be enough oil left in there) crack an egg and then cover with a pan. While this is frying, toss together the noodles with the greens and dress with 80% of the sauce. When the whites are set on the egg, but the yolk is still runny, slide it over the noodles and top it with the rest of the sauce. Mostly out of habit, I sprinkled salt and pepper on top of the egg, as well as a few sesame seeds.