What to do with all of these #%*@$ greens!

Something deeply disturbing and unexpected has happened. I am growing sick and tired of greens. Any greens. Greens to be wilted, slow cooked, eaten raw, sauteed, boiled, or baked...my eyes are turning green from the over abundance of greens in my life. And yet my refrigerator remains stocked full of greens-swiss chard, beet greens, salad mix and heads of lettuce. Who is to blame? My CSA...or perhaps mother nature. The weather has been such that my farm is mainly producing greens. I have also gotten some onions, beets, and radishes.

Okay, so what to do with all of these greens? I got a little creative...

Chicken Rigatoni
1 large chicken breast
1/2 pound rigatoni pasta
1/3 cup dry white wine
1/3 cup chicken stock
1 pinch red pepper flake (or to taste)
2 cloves of garlic minced
1 large bunch beet greens with stems
1 medium onion sliced thinly
2 ounces pancetta diced small
parmigiana or Romano cheese

Start water in a stock pot set to boil. Pan sear chicken breast in olive oil seasoned with salt and pepper. Cut into bite sized chunks and set aside. In a large skillet render the fat from the pancetta over medium high heat, once pancetta is close to crispy, add the onion and saute until soft. Add the minced garlic and saute a little longer. Deglaze the pan with the white white and loosen the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the chicken stock and red pepper flake and bring the sauce to a simmer. If you have reached a boil on your pasta water, this is a good time to drop the pasta. Chop the stems from the greens into inch long pieces and add to the sauce and allow to simmer for 5 minutes. Roughly chop the greens and carefully fold the greens in. It will look like you have far too many greens but they will wilt down about 80%. When the greens are starting to wilt, add the chicken back in to warm it up. The sauce will not be a thick sauce. It will be thin but super flavorful. Add salt to taste. Toss with the cooked rigatoni. Top with lots of Romano or parmigiana cheese. This served 2 people with leftovers.

This is a super delicious pasta that I probably would have never come up with if necessity hadn't forced me along the path to creativity. The beet stems are sweet and crisp and the greens are just a little bitter in a way that plays well with others. You could also use spinach or chard or some other wilting green, but then you wouldn't get the stems. Speaking of chard...

Italian Quesadilla

4 burrito sized tortillas (I used flour but I think sun dried tomato or spinach would be awesome)
2 yellow onions
1 splash of balsamic vinegar
1 small to medium tomato- seeded and thinly sliced
2 handfuls of mozzarella or fontina cheese- grated
1 small bunch of swiss chard
8-10 leaves of basil

Caramelize the onions in a tablespoon or so of olive oil. I am picky about caramelizing my onions. I do it low and slow, attempting not to get any cooked brown spots on them, but attempting to make the sugars warm and cook inside the onions. Stir often and be patient. Remove the stems from the chard. Also remove the spine but folding over the leaf and slicing it out of the middle. Roughly chop the chard. When the onions are golden brown, add a splash of balsamic vinegar and some salt and pepper. Fold in the chard and allow to wilt down. Heat a large skillet over medium high heat and place one tortilla in it and spoon in a thin layer of the onions and chard. Top with thin slices of the tomato, ripped basil, and half of the cheese. Place other tortilla on top of the mixture. Cook long enough that the bottom tortilla is golden brown in some places and flip carefully or else the mixture will come tumbling out! Brown the second side and repeat for the second quesadilla.

I think this would be delicious with a little Italian salsa...maybe some diced tomatoes, olive oil, basil, parsley, red onion, black olives all chopped up fine with some salt and pepper. But that's not how I served it. I served it plain and it was still delicious. Lots and lots of very rich full flavors.

That has been the method to my green madness. Any clever ideas from my legions of loyal readers?