spring greens saag paneer
aka the *ideal* way to use up a mountain of greens
Last night I hosted my first ladies craft night in our (freshly transformed!) barn loft, and it was the absolute BEST. Just a gaggle of girls sitting around a table, chatting and snacking while immersed in a craft (there was button-making, embroidery, crocheting, and painting). Honestly, for this stretched-thin farming momma of two toddlers, it was the most soul-filling evening I’ve had in a long time, and we’re already planning the next one.
In other news… this week on the farm we’ve been busy in harvest mode, and it feels like all of the sudden, ALL of the greens are ready (think kale, swiss chard, lettuces, asian greens, herbs, etc). Instead of a formal CSA, this year I’m selling ad-hoc weekly farm boxes, and this week’s box was especially bodacious (see pic below)!
PS - local friends, I just posted the veggie box available for pickup next week, here’s the link with all the details + place your order.
ALSO, it was an especially exciting week because tomatoes are officially in the ground! Because we grow our tomatoes inside caterpillar tunnels, we’re able to plant them a few weeks early (they’re protected inside the tunnels if we have a cold snap). But the work is just beginning. Now we have about two months of careful tomato tending, pruning, and trellising before we get to see the first ripe fruits of summer.
At this point in the season, just as our spring veggies hit their peak, I need to turn my attention to planting the bulk of our summer crops, and over the next few weeks, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, cucumbers, zucchini, etc will all go in the ground. We’ve had a relatively mild spring, and there’s no frost in the 10-day forecast, so (fingers crossed! knock on wood!) it’s full steam ahead as we start to plant for summer. That means an especially hectic next few weeks, as we navigate harvesting all the spring abundance, while also making room for all the summer crops that need to get planted.
It’s always a bit sad transitioning away from the luscious spring greens (didn’t they just get here?!), but then I think about biting into that first juicy tomato and mayo sandwich of the season, and I’m like… ummm, summer are you here yet?
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Okay, time to get cooking and dig into this week’s new recipe – spring greens saag paneer – available for paid subscribers.
You know what they say… when life gives you a mountain of spring greens, make saag paneer. (or maybe that’s just me?)
A must-order dish from our favorite Indian takeout spot (shoutout to Rasa, a hidden gem in Chapel Hill), saag paneer is a traditional North Indian dish that features velvety smooth spiced greens dotted with creamy paneer (an Indian version of queso blanco or farmer’s cheese). I probably eat saag paneer once a month (did I mention we love Indian takeout?), but I’d never really considered making it myself.
So this week, when I was faced with a wild abundance of spring greens from the garden, I realized that saag paneer would be the perfect vehicle for all the greens in my fridge. So today’s recipe is my take on saag paneer after some tweaking and testing this week, and I’m honestly annoyed with myself for not making this sooner. It’s so simple, so incredibly packed with flavor, and genuinely good for you (so. many. greens. packed in this recipe)!
A few recipe notes:
Paneer can sometimes be tough to find at the grocery store, so as I note in the recipe, you can easily swap it out with a block of feta cheese or even with tofu. Or if you’re feeling ambitious, you can make your own paneer.
The whole point of this recipe is that it’s SUPER adaptable when it comes to what kind of greens you can use. Swiss chard, kale, spinach, arugula, mustard greens, turnip tops… all will work, and a mix of different greens is great too.
As noted in the recipe, there are three options for how much you want to blend the greens after they’re cooked in yummy aromatics. 1) You can leave the greens as-is (for a more rustic presentation), 2) use a stick/immersion blender to puree the greens directly in the pot (less mess to clean up), or 3) transfer the greens to a blender or food processor and blitz until velvety smooth (a more traditional presentation).
See below for a photo of the greens after they’ve been cooked down (L), and after being pureed in the pot with an immersion blender (R), which is my preferred method.
Keep reading for the full recipe (and a handy 1-page PDF for easy printing).
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Spring Greens Saag Paneer
Serves 2-4