Green Pie

Everything about this pie is heavenly, from the creamy chevre cheese to the silky combo of eggs and fresh cream to the buttery pie crust! This recipe makes one pie, enough for four hearty servings. Serve with roasted potatoes and a side of baby greens salad for a healthy brunch.

Preheat the oven to 375.

Crust: Make your own trusted recipe or try this: mix 1/2 cup white flour and 3/4 cup wheat flour with a tsp. of salt in a food processor with the steel blade. Add one stick of butter, cut into chunks. Pulse until all the butter is incorporated into the flour. Leave the machine running and feed about 1/4 cup cold water through the feed tube. Add some more flour if too sticky, which it most likely will be. Turn out onto a floured surface and roll flat. Place into a pie dish. Make a few holes in the bottom of the crust with a fork. Layer the dish with crumbled chevre. Be generous!

Filling: Fill a six quart pan with loosely packed baby greens (I used beet and mustard, but spinach would be great, I am sure) and a little water. Bring to a boil and let the greens just barely wilt. Remove from heat, strain fully and chop up the greens with a sharp knife. Layer over the cheese in the pie dish. In a small bowl, beat four eggs and then add 1 cup good heavy cream. Salt generously and pepper. Pour the egg/cream mixture over the greens. Sprinkle the top with nutmeg and bake for about an hour.

Garlicky creamed baby beet greens

The beet greens just keep a comin', which suits me just fine since I love them! This little side dish is so easy you could make it with your eyes closed, and so good that you'll be eating them with your eyes closed, too, as you savor the garlicky creaminess.

Melt a few tablespoons of good butter on very low heat in a stickproof pan. In the meantime, mince 3 large garlic cloves. When the butter is nice and hot, add the garlic. Toss the garlic around by lifting and shaking the pan and let it cook until just translucent. Add enough baby beet greens to the pan so that it almost overflows as you stir them. Stir to coat with the butter and the garlic, and salt generously. When barely wilted, add some good, fresh heavy cream to the pan and heat through. I use Smiling Hill Farms cream; the processed kinds don't have the same taste.

Serve in separate bowls as a side dish with a piece of toasted bread or baguette to sop up the cream. Believe me, you will want to sop up the cream!

Cheesy mustard greens salad

You could make this with any baby greens or lettuce; I used mustard greens because it's what growing like crazy in the garden for the moment. You may think you have never had mustard greens, but I would be willing to bet that you have since I see them often in fresh garden salads that I eat in restaurants. They're very mild, which makes this dressing a good combo since all the flavor is in the dressing.

In a bowl, mix 1 minced garlic clove with a generous amount of salt. Add a tablespoon of vinegar and stir again. Finally, add 2 to 3 tablespoons of olive oil and stir. Add 1/4 to 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan and mix again. Toss in the greens (washed, snipped if necessary, cut in half if long) and stir to cover with the dressing. Top with pine nuts and black olives.