this latest lebanese food art photography reminds me of a 1960s tie dye! and although red russian kale and amaranth (native american) are not typically lebanese vegetables, when sauteéd and dressed with our classic garlic, lemon, and olive oil dressing, these vegetables that are abundant now in my portland garden that is a month behind because of record cool temperatures and july rain, made a fabulous accompaniment to leftover mjaddrah.
red russian kale is a beautiful plant. the leaves have a reddish purple stem with frilly edges.
red amaranth, a native american grain, has been growing in my garden since i first planted it from seed about ten summers ago! the flowers are stunning, produce thousands of tiny seeds, which the birds adore and continue to volunteer every year as i allow a few plants to flower and go to seed. here's my darling puppy, baba ghannouj, at three months old in october, 2008, pictured in the garden with the totally extraordinary red amaranth in the background that grew to about 6 feet tall.
here's another view of amaranth in the garden
here's how the young red amaranth plants look in the garden before picking to accompany red russian kale and red onions for the sauteéd summer greens with lebanese garlic lemon olive oil dressing.
lots of young amaranth showed up in my salad greens bed and i have been using them raw in salads also, adding lots of nutrition.
since i shredded the kale and the amaranth, it cooks quickly. so be careful to sauté it briefly to maintain the health benefits and to preserve the bright green color of these vegetables; add them to the red onions after a few minutes of sautéing. i used a mixture of olive oil and coconut oil (which both have great health benefits and great flavor) for the sauté. remove the greens quickly and drizzle the dressing over the top. serve in a beautiful plate...
...for the finished dish—the most yummy and nutritious summer greens using the recipe in alice's kitchen: traditional lebanese cooking on page 169. here's a link for the extraordinary health benefits of eating kale. this website states that kale is by far the richest "in numerous health benefiting polyphenolic flavonoid compounds such as lutein, zeaxanthin and beta carotene, and vitamins than found in any other green leafy vegetables".
this link for the health benefits of amaranth mentions amaranth being recommended for cancer patients.
sahtein! in Arabic means "double health to you!" this is my wish for you!
