"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 (Swiss chard)
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
- Start off by preheating your oven to 180°C
- Wash the silverbeet – I finely chop it, then leave it to soak in a sink full of water before draining well.
- 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.
- Add the silverbeet and stir it through the oil, allowing it to wilt.
- Add the chickpeas and sauté briefly.
- 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.
- Bake for around 40 minutes or until most of the liquid has been cooked out of the silverbeet.
- 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.
- 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.