"This recipe is great for using up any left-over greens in your fridge," says Mittas. "I use whatever I have – spinach, chard, sometimes beetroot leaves. Similarly, with the herbs, use a mix of whatever you have on hand."

Serves 4 as a side

Ingredients
1 bunch silverbeet
1 brown onion, sliced
1⁄4 cup olive oil, plus extra to season
2 garlic cloves, sliced
2 x 400g cans chickpeas, drained
2 tbsp honey
1 lemon
1⁄2 cup chopped mixed dill, mint and spring onion
Flake salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

  1. Start off by preheating your oven to 180°C
  2. Wash the silverbeet – I finely chop it, then leave it to soak in a sink full of water before draining well.
  3. Sauté the onion in 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a saucepan for around 15 minutes until golden, then add the garlic and sauté until aromatic: 30 seconds.
  4. Add the silverbeet and stir it through the oil, allowing it to wilt.
  5. Add the chickpeas and sauté briefly.
  6. Transfer everything to a baking dish and add the rest of the olive oil and the honey. Cut the lemon in half and add it to the baking dish.
  7. Bake for around 40 minutes or until most of the liquid has been cooked out of the silverbeet.
  8. Season with salt, pepper, extra olive oil and the pulp of the baked lemon. The lemon will be mellower than a fresh lemon, but taste as you go – it’ll still be quite acidic.
  9. Stir in the mixed greens and serve warm or at room temperature.


Ela! Ela! (RRP $39.95) is out now through Murdoch Books and available to purchase at great Victorian bookstores like Readings and Paperback Bookshop.