A Hot Pan of Greens

A Hot Pan of Greens. image: Essy Roz

A Hot Pan of Greens. image: Essy Roz

My hot pan was born about a decade ago.
When Noi and I were living in the big city, we loved buying baskets of organic vegetables in a family package.
Every week a different basket would arrive depending on the season.
It smelled like a village and earth and it made me miss home every time.

I never knew what’s going to be in it until it has arrived,
It was a surprise every time.
Every single one of our Friday mornings would begin with a hot pan,
And every time it contained different and diverse vegetables.

In my hot pan there’s some kind of vegetable shakshuka without too much sauce,
That puts the vegetables in the center of the meal.
How to cook the eggs is up to you,
And the joy is pure and endless.

There were days where I used to make a vegan version of this pan, which is just as perfect.
The greens can be anything that’s waiting for you in your fridge or an amazing combination that you really love.

It’s a warm and comforting bite,
It’s a balanced and indulging bite,
It takes just a few quick minutes to make and will turn the term “omelet and salad” to a different bite, balancing and divers.

All that’s left for you to do is to go to your fridge,
Gather the selected vegetables,
And create this magic in your kitchen 🙂

Happy and joyful days of balance to us all 🙂

A Hot Pan of Greens. image: Essy Roz

A Hot Pan of Greens. image: Essy Roz

A Hot Pan of Greens. image: Essy Roz

A Hot Pan of Greens

Ingredients: suitable for a pan for two.
Almost any vegetable you choose will fit, that’s the secret of this magic, the pan suits itself to the ingredients available at your home.

• A bundle of green leaves like spinach / kale / mangold / green onions (Any green leaf that you like)
• Onion / courgette / zucchini / mushrooms
• A generous handful of cherry tomatoes
• Parsley / cilantro / basil
• ¾ cup coconut milk / non-dairy cream / coconut cream
• Salt according to your taste
• 2 garlic cloves (If you like it)
• 4-6 eggs (For the vegan version, have a look at “A little extra From Me”)

Steps:

1. Cut all the vegetables into small cubes and cut the cherry tomatoes in half. Separate the leaves from the stem and chop them as well. 
2. Choose a wide pan and heat it on high flame. Pour a little olive oil and gradually put  in the pan all the vegetables that we cut.
3. First fry the hard vegetables, in my pan these are the zucchini and kale leaves, fry them until they turn a little gold. 
4. Add the rest of the chopped leaves to the pan and fry them as well for a few more minutes, until they give in to the heat.
5. In the end add the vegetables that need the least amount of cooking, in my pan these are the cherry tomatoes and garlic. Add the cherry tomatoes halves and chopped garlic and mix well. Add salt and continue mixing for a few more minutes.
6. Add milk to the pan and bring to a boil.
7. Create little dimples in the pan mixture for each egg and pour the eggs into them. Put some salt on the eggs, lower the flame and cover the pan with a lid. 

Continue cooking until the eggs are done to your liking and serve the table 🙂

A little extra from me:

• Can be kept in the fridge in a sealed box for up to 4 days.
• The pan can contain almost any vegetable you choose.
• Can also use frozen green vegetable mix.
• I don’t recommend choosing vegetables that take a long time to cook such as carrot / sweet potato / beetroot / potato. If you do like to use them I recommend shredding with a grater using the grater’s wider side.
• A little chopped herbs can be scattered on the pan once it’s ready.
• I recommend adding the eggs when the amount of liquid in the pan is still quite large.
• Vegetables can be made without the eggs or make a vegan egg mixture: In a bowl put 1 cup of lentil flour / 1 cup of chickpeas and ¾ cup of non-dairy milk, ¼ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon paprika and a little garlic powder and mix until receiving a uniform thick mixture. Create dimples in the pan mixture and pour the mixture into them, try to split the mixture equally between all dimples just the same as the eggs would blend in the vegetable mixture and cook until the mixture is completely formed.
• I recommend cooking with a lid 🙂

Separating the leaves from the stems. image: Essy Roz

We will cut the cherry tomatoes in half. image: Essy Roz

Let’s start by frying the hard vegetables – my zucchini and kale leaves.image: Essy Roz

We will add the variety of leaves we have chosen. image: Essy Roz

We will continue to fry until they give way to heat. image: Essy Roz

Add the cherry tomato halves. image: Essy Roz

Fry until everything gives way to the heat of the pan. image: Essy Roz

After adding the vegetable milk we will create dimples and lay the eggs in them. image: Essy Roz

We will continue to cook with a lid until the desired degree of making. image: Essy Roz

A Hot Pan of Greens. image: Essy Roz

A Hot Pan of Greens. image: Essy Roz

A Hot Pan of Greens. image: Essy Roz

A Hot Pan of Greens. image: Essy Roz