Another cooked greens recipe this week comes straight out of the New York Times.  This is a very unique dish from African that turns leafy greens into a filling stew.  You can use a combination of spinach, kale and/or collards.  The original recipe uses palm oil, a specialty African ingredient, but I substituted olive oil.

In a dutch oven or deep skillet, saute 1 cleaned, diced leek in 1/3 C. olive oil over low heat until tender.  Add 4 minced cloves of garlic, 3 T. minced fresh ginger, hot pepper flakes to your liking, and a pinch of salt.  Saute until the leeks are nicely browned.

Chop 28 ounces peeled whole canned tomatoes and add to the pan along with their juices.  Bring to a boil then simmer for 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, grind 3/4 C. raw pumpkin seeds to a fine powder.  Mix in water, 1 T. at a time, until it makes a loose paste.

Remove the thick stems from 1 bunch of spinach or kale.  Soak the leaves and rinse, then spin dry and chop roughly.  You can also use a combination of the two.

Add 2 1/2 t. smoked paprika and 1 t. Thai fish sauce to the dish and stir in.  Spread the pumpkin seed paste over the sauce, then cover it and cook for 5 minutes.  Uncover and stir it into the sauce.  It will make a thick porridge.

Raise the heat to a boil, then add the greens.  If you are using both kale and spinach, add the kale first and then when it is tender add the spinach.

Season with salt or more fish sauce.

Serve with oven-roasted sweet potatoes.