Request for recipes for silverbeet

[Heidi Wood]

Hi, I have lots of silverbeet ready to harvest in my garden but I am totally uninspired as to what to make with it apart from the boring old steamed way. Does anyone have any ideas? Thanks.

[gabriella]

yes! Greek Silverbeet. This is so yummy. Preheat oven 180 C

Saute 1 large onions in 2 tablespn olive oil. Rinse and chop 250gr silverbeet (the water rinse helps steam them as they stirfry) for about five min. or less, with pinch of sea salt. Drain and place in bowl and add crumbled feta, 200grm ricotta, 1 egg, 1/2cup grated Parmeasan, 1/4 cup coriander (optional), I love to add dill, 1/2tsp of nutmeg, and lemon rind. Mix well and set aside. Place two sheets of filo on the bench, overlapping their shortest side by 2cm, making a long rectangle. Brush on olive oil gently, repeat layers, four sheets on each side, with 2cm overlap brushing and spreading with oil. (Total of 8 sheets). Then place siiverbeet mixture into a sausage shape along the nearest edge of pastry,leaving a border at the sides to turn in. Roll up to fully enclose filling, forming a long cigar shape. Seal edges with oil and gently roll cigar into spiral shape, or crescent (easier) on the baking tray. Brush with more oil. Bake until crisp about 40 mins.

Let me know how it goes....gabriella

[Daniel Andrews]

We like it fried with crushed garlic and olive oil fried gently in a pan so easy to do but it tastes great.
the other thing we have tried was in a quiche.

[Kate Jordan]

I use it as a base on pizza. Chop it finely and put it on top of the tomato base, but below the cheese. Works well with spinach too.

[Heidi Wood]

Thank you! I am going shopping today to get all the ingredients I need for all the recipes I have been given! My fiance wont know what hit him! It will be silverbeet week at my house! ;-)

[James Samuel]

If you want to keep it really simple:

Steam silverbeet.
Drain and pour over a little lemon juice and a few drops of Tamari (be sparing with the Tamari)

Yummm!

[Megan]

hello Heidi,
have you tried stir frying it with black bean sauce and chili, chinese style?
Take some finely chopped garlic, fresh ginger, chili, sugar and soy - quantities to taste.
Wash and cut the stalks into one inch wide pieces and slice the leaves into generous strips.
If using whole black beans, take about a teaspoonful, rinse thoroughly and mash with a little sugar, combine with the finely chopped garlic, ginger & add cooked oil to make a smooth paste. Alternatively, there are plenty of good ready made black bean sauces (just check the ingredients to make sure there isn't any msg).
Heat a little oil in your wok, add stir fry the stalks until 3/4 done, add leaves and cook until just wilted. Remove from wok, drain off the liquid & reserve, wipe out wok with a kitchen towel, heat a little more oil and cook the black bean paste until fragrant, add the liquid from the cooking the silverbeet, taste and adjust seasoning (sugar helps counter the bitterness of the beans) and put the silverbeet back in and toss to coat with the sauce.
If you're carnivorous, sliced chicken or beef is good stir fried with the silverbeet. Serve with boiled rice. Quicker to prepare than to type up and read the instructions!
Gabriella's filling is really good in shortcrust pastry base as a quiche.

[Margaret Beers Oliver]

A bit late for the post but I just joined up. One of my favorite ways to serve silverbeet up is to julliene it up and stir fry it for a bit till tender. Then make a dressing of peppered olive oil and balsamic vinegar. A bit of salt can be added if you like. Sometimes adding garlic when stir frying also.
Pepper oil
you will need peppers of choice
and a non aluminum pot
olive oil to cover
heat source
heat olive oil and water to a low simmer and reduce heat to just warming. Let this cook until the peppers are done. Then bottle. Sometimes I puree the peppers with the oil for a paste. Remember to refrigerate the paste after opening the jar if you don't use it all.

[Katharine]

Have you tried a frittata? Saute some onion and garic in olive oil. If you have mushroom available you can slice some up and add them too. Chop up about 2 cups worth of silverbeet. Mix silverbeet into onions and garlic and remove from heat.
Beat 5 - 6 eggs and mix with other ingrdients in baking dish. Add pepper and salt to taste. Bake in a moderate oven until set. .
Most people make the frittata in a frying pan on the stove top instead of baking it so you could cok it that way too, I just like baking it myself. This recipe is very flexible and you can add all sorts of ingredients depending on your personal tastes and what you have on hand at the time.

Hope that helps.

[Dana Stewart]

Hi I have loads also and tomorrow I am going to make dehydrated silverbeat chips. 1cup raw cashews soaked, 1/4 cup nama shoyu, 1/2 cup water, 1clove garlic, lemon juice, 1tsp tumeric, 1/4 t sea salt. blend together and coat silverbeat and dehydrate for 4hrs at 45 degrees. I made this recipe with kale and it was heavenly, beats potato chips hands down. :)

[Letitia Shaw]

Here's a simple but nice way......steam sliced silverbeet, drain well, season to taste, place in oven proof dish, top with finely chopped tomato and cheese of your choice (a mix of cheddar/edam and blue is great) - grill until cheese is bubbly and browned.
Yum :-)

[minx]

pork stuffed with silverbeet
i love to saute some onion, garlic,(a little chilli is nice, if you like spicy) herbs (thyme, sage, oregano, marjaram, chives, parsley and rosemary are all good choose one or two or even three! grin) then add the washed sliced leaf, saute untill wilted, season with salt, pepper. cool. (to improve digestibility a tsp of vinegar or lemon juice can also be added to cooling mix, i use either a herb vinegar or wine/cider vinegar) ricotta, parmesan, feta or blue cheese, nuts, olives etc can also be added here
my butcher sells large pork fillets (10-12 cm diameter) at a really reasonable price, so that is what i use. using a sharp knife i open it up (along the long side) into a 1- 1.5cm thick flat piece of meat. basically you need a piece of meat that you can either pocket, or roll up! so steaks, boneless roasts, unpickled silverside etc. you could use beef, lamb, chicken too. beef rumpsteak works brilliantly!
once the vege i cool enough to handle put it along the longest edge of the meat and roll up, use twice as much silverbeet as you think and press it into a cylinder press as you roll to compress, your roll should overlap at the edges by 2 cm at least. if you have hollowed out a chunk of meat, push as much vege in as you can. you want it to be quite compressed as it will shrink a bit during cooking.
tie the meat up with string ( to keep it from unravelling during cooking) or if you want wrap in bacon etc (secure with a tooth pick or 6)
put meat roll in baking/ roasting dish
bake in preheated oven until meat is cooked to liking. (the temp and timing depend on the cut and type of meat)
let the meat rest for 5 mins covered in foil, then remove string and slice, it looks beautiful.
this is an ideal dinner party dish as you can make it a day in advance, cook it unattended in oven and just slice it and wow your guests!
i also make a vege verson, by making a 1cm thick omlette type base(i bake it in the oven in a rectangle dish) then rolling the silverbeet in the middle of that once cooked. sort of like a sponge roll technique!

hope you like it!
cheers

[minx]

also adding a dollop of good tomato based pasta sauce to the normal cooked silverbeet, jazzes it up on the plate and the acid and vitamins helps digest the iron of the silverbeet.

to make your own sauce.
saute finely chopped onion and garlic in a little olive oil, add 250 -300g of chopped tomatoes or a tin of chopped tomatoes, bring to the boil.
season with salt pepper and herbs. either serve chunky or cook down until smooth as you like it.