Braised greens with harissa, preserved lemon and fried egg

Comfort food indeed! Spicy, yolky and slippery… everything I love in a dish. And don’t even talk about the vitamins!!

Fresh from the garden: kale, silverbeet, spinach, garlic, eggs, lemons, capsicum
Recipe source: Melissa
Serves: 4 at home or 20 tastes

What to do:

• Wash all the leaves thoroughly and shake dry, then trim the kale of its stalks and your other greens of any tough or dry stems. Chop the greens into thick ribbons.
• Peel the garlic and thinly slice.
• With tongs, remove a preserved lemon from the jar and rinse under running water to remove the salt. Cut into quarters and carefully slice out the pith and seeds and discard. Finely slice the rind into slithers and reserve.
• In the frying pan or casserole, heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. When it shimmers, add the greens. Use tongs to toss and coat in the oil.
• After about 4 minutes, the greens should start to wilt, brown in spots, and cook down. Add the garlic and continue to sauté, tossing or stirring occasionally, another 2 minutes. Do not allow the garlic to brown.
• Add the harissa and toss to distribute. Then add the cup of water. Bring the pan to a boil, scraping up any browned bits on the bottom. Cover, and simmer for about 10 minutes, until the thickest parts of the veggie stems are very tender and easily pierced with a knife.
• In the final several minutes of cooking, add the slices of preserved lemon, tossing to incorporate them in the cooking liquid. You may need to add a little more water as you go.
• Taste for salt and pepper and season, if necessary. Remove the greens from the heat and divide among your bowls.
• Heat a little more oil in the pan and fry your eggs one or two at a time, placing one on top of each bowl of greens. Serve immediately!

Notes: What are preserved lemons and when did we make them? What is harissa? What other greens could you use?