My New Favorite Way for Kale

Approx. 1 cup greens and beans. I was out of chick peas when I made the greens and beans, so I used about ½ a can of Great Northern Beans

Remainder of the can of beans left over from making the greens and beans (about ½ of a 15 oz. can), drained

Panko crumbs (approx. 1/3 cup)

Grated Locatelli cheese (approx. 1/3 cup)

Generous squeeze of fresh lemon juice

A few gratings of lemon rind

A few gratings of nutmeg

1 – 2 cloves garlic

Salt and pepper

1/8 tsp baking soda

Process all of the remaining beans, half of the beans and greens, garlic, and Locatelli in a food processor until smooth.

Add the rest of the beans and greens and process just until coarse.

Turn the contents of the food processor into a bowl and mix in all of the other ingredients.  Taste for seasonings and test for consistency. The mixture should be able to hold its shape in a small patty. Correct seasonings by adding more cheese, garlic, lemon, nutmeg, or salt and pepper. Correct texture by adding more panko. You probably will not need to correct for a too dry mixture, but if you do need to, try adding a bit of water.

To give the patties a bit more support, coat them in a little more panko seasoned with the cheese, salt and pepper.

 

Chill the mixture for about 30 minutes, or until its firm enough to form into patties more easily than before it’s chilling. So, form into small patties. I then chilled the patties for another 30 minutes.

The Great Northern Beans are creamily starchy, so I got away without adding eggs to this. The mixture held together pretty well with just these beans as a binder. If I had used chick peas in my greens and beans as usually do, I think I would have had to have added an egg or two. The drier texture of the chick peas would not have held the mixture together as well on their own. This is a deviation from the norm that seems to have been successful.

I also deviated from my usual patty fabrication method of freezing them and baking at a later date by shallow frying these after their 2^nd visit to the refrigerator. I regretted doing so. The patties were unevenly cooked on the outside, oil splattered on my hands, and my house smelled for days.  They were crunchy on the outside and creamy on the inside, so that was delicious, but I think I could have achieved that effect in my little toaster oven.

-Elena