Recipe and image by Nadia Tamby

This is a perfect dish to make when you have a lot of greens on hand.  Not only can you use the bag of baby mustard greens, but you can also trim the tops of turnips, radishes, beets, etc – and use them as well.  The coconut rice is versatile, and you can add other aromatics as well (think ginger, garlic, galangal, a couple Thai chilies…).  I had galangal root on hand (if I ever find it fresh, I slice it and freeze it…so technically I always tend to have it on hand).  This seemingly simple combo takes very little time to make and can be paired with any protein – from a fried egg (I love the runny yolk mixed into the rice) to grilled steak or salmon or pan-fried chicken.  I roasted tofu that I tossed in store-bought red curry paste for a very quick weeknight meal.



Coconut-Lemongrass Rice

Ingredients:

• 1 cup jasmine rice
• 1 cup coconut milk (or ½ cup water and ½ cup coconut cream)
• 1 lemongrass stalk (tough green parts removed, sliced into chunks)
• 1 teaspoon salt

Instructions:

Rinse the rice several times until the water runs clear (this takes me about 3 iterations).  Combine all ingredients in a rice cooker and cook on the “white rice” setting.  Alternately, this can be made on the stovetop just as easily – bring it to a boil then turn to low heat and cover with a lid for 15 minutes.  Remove the pot from the heat and let the rice steam further for another 10 minutes.  Fluff with a fork!  Remove the lemongrass chunks (or just beware they aren’t pleasant to chew on – so let your guests know).

Braised Mustard Greens

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, chopped
• 1 thai chili, serrano pepper or jalapeno, chopped (optional)
• 1 bunch baby mustard greens, roughly chopped
• Other greens (if using – if the stems are long, use them but keep them separate from the leafy parts)
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce

Instructions:

You will want to chop the stalks and cook those with the garlic as they take a little more time than the leaves.  Keep the stalks and garlic separate and roughly chop the leaves.

Heat the olive oil up in a skillet on medium heat.  Add the garlic, chili (if using) and chopped stalks and sauté until softened and the garlic is lightly browned.  Then add the greens and toss until they have slightly wilted but are still a vibrant green.  Add the fish sauce and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated.  If your greens are very tender – cook until just wilted and serve the greens with the extra liquid over the rice.