by Caroline
The other day, this is what I pulled out of my CSA share:
It was bigger than my head. The slip of paper in the box told me that it’s Pan de Zucchero, and that I could treat it like escarole or chard or any cooking green. So without giving it much thought except that it wouldn’t fit in my refrigerator, I chopped the whole thing unceremoniously up, tossed it in our biggest cooking pot with some water, and steamed it until the leaves were tender. Tony walked by at one point, looked at what I was doing, and commented, “That’s not my favorite kind of greens,” effectively telling me I was on my own with this one. I pointed out the greens would be great in a minestrone, but in the next breath acknowledged that minestrone was not going to happen anytime soon. So I drained the greens, stuck them in a glass container, and put them in the fridge, punting them for another time.
So, the next day, lunchtime, hungry, I open the fridge and start to rummage. I see the disdained greens and think again, longingly, of minestrone. I see some leftover tomato sauce and remember the can of cannellini beans in the pantry. Who needs minestrone? I warmed the greens and beans in olive oil, gave them a squeeze of lemon juice, and then spooned the warmed sauce on the side. I even made myself a nice piece of toast. So simple, so obvious, so delicious.
