Saag Paneer Salad

At the Fairmount Neighborhood Farmers market, these brilliant red cherry tomatoes from Songbird Farm

and bright green bietola greens from SLO Farm brought to mind a favorite Indian dish, saag or palak paneer. I have a go to quick palak paneer recipe from Neelam Batra's 1000 Indian Recipes that is more of a stir fry than the traditional stewed vegetable dish (which I've tinkered with before in a version with kale). 

With ingredients this fresh, however, it seemed a shame to cook them at all, which inspired me to make a saag paneer salad. I chopped up the bietola leaves, halved the cherry tomatoes, and tossed them with lemon juice, salt, and pepper.

Then I toasted some fenugreek, cumin, and black mustard seeds in hot oil and cooked them with minced ginger, garlic, and jalapeno, and cubed paneer cheese (available at Market of Choice). I layered the flavorful cheese onto the greens and served it immediately as a refreshing accompaniment for grilled tandoori chicken (prepared with a whole fresh chicken from Out of Our Coop). The hearty bietola greens stood up well to the cheese dressing, and the salad was still delicious for lunch the next day.

Saag Paneer Salad

• 1 bunch bietola or spinach
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 jalapeno
• 1 inch ginger root
• 1 clove garlic
• ~3 ounces paneer cheese
• 1 green onion, large outer leaves removed
• 1/4 cup neutral oil such as grape seed
• 1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
• 1 teaspoon fenugreek
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• salt
• freshly ground black pepper

1. Wash the bietola or spinach, slice the leaves into 1/4 inch strips, and discard the stems. Wash and halve the cherry tomatoes. Toss the greens and tomatoes with the lemon juice, salt, and freshly ground black pepper in a large serving bowl.
2. Seed the jalapeno. Peel the ginger and the garlic. Mince all three finely (you could do this in a food processor or mini-chopper). Chop the paneer cheese into 1/4 inch cubes. Chop the white and tender inner green leaves of the green onion into narrow rings.
3. Just before you are ready to serve the salad, heat the oil in a skillet over medium high heat. When the oil is hot, add the black mustard seeds, fenugreek, and cumin seeds and let them sizzle for 1 minute. Add the jalapeno, ginger, and garlic mix and cook for a minute. Add the paneer cheese cubes and a pinch of salt and saute for a minute. Add the green onions and cook for a minute. Add the garam masala and saute for a final minute, until the cheese is well coated with the spices and the oil is bubbling and fragrant.
4. Pour the spiced cheese cubes and oil over the greens and tomatoes. Toss and serve.

A Couple of Salads with Bietola Greens

The last couple of Sundays, SLO Farm  has offered these lovely greens called Bietola a Costa Fine. A delicacy of Tuscany, they are called a chard, although the plant actually belongs to the beet family. You could cook them like chard, for example in a tart, but they are also delicious raw. In fact, they are my new favorite salad green. They have the brightness and heartiness of spinach, but with a milder aftertaste. 

  

And they are much easier to deal with than a jumbled bunch of spinach. Simply wash them, shake them dry, and then stack the leaves and slices them into neat ribbons.

I first paired them with some of SLO Farm's delicious plump sugar snap peas

and tossed them in a lemony tahini dressing, as a vegan accompaniment to falafels. The next evening I swung the other direction with an carnivore-friendly salad of bietola leaves, apple slices, bacon bits, and scallions tamed in bacon drippings. Really you can't go wrong with these delicious greens.

Bietola Salad with Snap Peas and Lemony Tahini Dressing

1 bunch bietola

1 large handful sugar snap peas

A handful of chives or the green part of one scallion

1 lemon

1 tsp honey

1 Tbsp tahini paste

salt and pepper to taste

1. Rinse the bietola leaves. Lay flat and slice the leaves in ¼ inch strips perpendicular to the stem. Rinse and stem the sugar snap peas and chop into ½ inch pieces.

2. Prepare the dressing in a food processor or mini chopper. Combine zest and juice from the lemon with the remaining ingredients and process until smooth. Taste and adjust seasoning.

3. Toss the bietola leaves and snap peas in the dressing to coat. Serves 4 as a side salad or you could serve as 2 entrée salads topped with falafel balls.

Bietola Salad with Apples, Scallions, and Bacon

1 bunch bietola
1 crunchy apple
1 large or two normal sized scallions
2 slices of bacon
1 Tbsp sherry vinegar
1 Tbsp neutral oil such as grape seed
pepper


1. Rinse the bietola leaves. Lay flat and slice the leaves in ¼ inch strips perpendicular to the stem. Core and cut the apple into thin slices. Place in a salad bowl.


2. Whisk together the vinegar, oil, and pepper, pour over the bietola and apples and toss to coat. 


3. Cook the bacon until crisp and drain on a paper towel. Cut the white and pale green part of the scallions into thin disks and cook briefly in the bacon fat. Scoop the scallions onto the bietola and apples, along with a little of the bacon drippings (you made a very lean dressing). Crumble over the bacon. Toss and serve. Serves 4 as a side salad or you could serve as 2 entrée salads topped with a poached egg.