Olive Oil Toasts With Greens Pine Nuts And Raisins Recipes

GRANDMA'S GREENS CATALAN-STYLE WITH TOASTED PINE NUTS AND RAISINS

Steps:

• Heat a small, dry skillet over medium heat and add pine nuts. Cook, shaking pan constantly, until nuts are fragrant and lightly browned - about five minutes. Set aside. Wash Swiss chard in several changes of cold water and drain. Trim and discard ends of chard leaves and slice chard into one-inch ribbons.
• Pour a cup of water into a large, heavy-bottomed skillet, add chard leaves and cover. Turn heat to high and bring to a boil. Lift lid and use tongs to turn and wilt chard. Replace lid and continue to boil for four minutes, turning chard again with tongs after two minutes.
• Drain chard in a colander placed in sink, rinsing with cold tap water to stop it from cooking further. Use a rubber spatula to press out as much moisture as possible and reserve. In a heavy skillet, heat olive oil on medium-low. Add garlic and raisins and cook, stirring occasionally, until garlic is soft but not brown. Add chard, season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring until heated through. Serve immediately.

BEET GREENS WITH RAISINS AND PINE NUTS

Steps:

• Note: you don't need to remove the beet green stalks unless they are woody and/or thick.
• Place the raisins in a small heat proof bowl. Pour boiling water over the raisins and let soak for 10 minutes. Drain.
• Meanwhile, cut the bread slice up into small cubes. (Directions say to discard the crust but I don't do that because I consider it a waste).
• Heat up 2 tablespoons of the olive oil on medium heat and saute the bread cubes until golden. Drain.
• Heat the remaining olive oil in the pan and saute the pine nuts until they begin to turn golden color.
• Add the beet greens, allspice and garlic.
• Cook quickly (lower heat if necessary to avoid burning) and cook just until beet greens start to wilt.
• Stir in the drained raisins and season with salt and pepper to taste.
• Transfer the greens to a serving platter.
• Sprinkle with the croutons and serve hot.

GARLIC TOASTS WITH SWISS CHARD, RAISINS, AND PINE NUTS

Steps:

• Place raisins in small bowl. Pour enough warm water over to cover; let stand 20 minutes. Drain.
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine 3 tablespoons oil and crushed garlic in another small bowl. Arrange baguette rounds on baking sheet. Bake until bread is crisp but not brown, turning bread once, about 5 minutes per side. Cool. Brush bread with garlic oil.
• Cook Swiss chard in large pot of boiling salted water until tender, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Drain well. Pat with paper towels to remove excess water. Finely chop chard. Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in heavy medium skillet over medium heat. Add onion and minced garlic and sauté until onion is tender, about 3 minutes. Add tomato and parsley and stir 1 minute. Increase heat to high; add pine nuts, nutmeg, raisins, and chard and stir 2 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Top toasts with Swiss chard mixture. Serve warm or at room temperature.

SWORDFISH WITH RAISINS AND PINE NUTS

Steps:

• Cut swordfish into pieces about 2 by 4 inches. Dredge swordfish pieces in flour. Pour olive oil into a large skillet and brown swordfish lightly on all sides.
• Remove the fish from the skillet and drain it on paper towels. Add wine, orange juice and lemon juice to skillet, and reduce the liquid by half.
• Meanwhile, plump raisins in warm water for 10 minutes while you grind the almonds with a mortar and pestle. Add herbs and mash into nuts. Add enough liquid from the skillet to form a paste, then add to the pan along with the raisins and pine nuts, stirring the ingredients together well.
• Return the fish to the skillet and heat through. Salt and pepper to taste.