This is part two of the amazing spring-themed dinner I made. Along with the lemon and herb crusted rack of lamb I was sent by Donald Russell, I wanted something fresh and sharp to balance the rich, creamy potatoes. Lemony greens was the obvious choice.
I really like buying huge bags of ambiguously titled “greens” from a supermarket. For a long time (as in, basically until I started writing this recipe up) I thought it was a term for generic green vegetables. But no. Spring greens are actually the first cabbages of the year.
The reason they’re not immediately identifiable as cabbage (although, in my defence your honour, I did guess that cabbage was involved somehow) is that they don’t have the heart of other cabbages. Instead of being all hard in the centre you just get fresh, loose, almost sweet tasting heads. Despite having previously mocked Garry mercilessly for liking cabbage, if all cabbage tasted like greens then I would absolutely get behind it.
Adding lemon to greens is also my absolute favourite way to serve it. You can make an oily version of this by adding the salt and lemon juice to a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and making a dressing, but I like it with just the fresh, clean feel of the lemon juice. And y’know, it’s diet friendly without the oil.
- 1 lemon
- 300g of spring greens
- A generous sprinkle of sea salt
- Boil the greens for five minutes, then drain. Return to the pan and let steam dry
- Squeeze the lemon juice over the greens, letting the juice run between your fingers so you can catch the pips. Sprinkle over the salt. Be generous with it
- Toss everything together until evenly mixed
Lemony greens are the best!
Maria xxx