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Here is a Leftover Queen classic! Remember all those greens from the Farmer’s Market several week ago?

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Well even with all my recipes that week, I still couldn’t use all the greens, so I washed some and stored them away in the freezer. I also had leftover tomatoes in juice from the Imam Bayildi and then there was the issue of random pieces of veggies in my vegetable bin. I also had purchased a small piece of lamb shoulder at the store, perfect for soup. I went into the pantry and found a can of cannellini beans and a package of rice pilaf. Put this all together and what do you have – an AWESOME stew. I am telling you guys, the flavors in here really really rock. It’s got a bit of the Middle East happening in here since I spiced it up with Sumac and Za’atar, a dash of coriander and a bay leaf and the world is a warm bowl of stew. We ate some for dinner, had it for lunch the next day and put the rest in the freezer for next week, so we can have leftovers of leftovers! 🙂

Here’s what I did.

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I took:

1 carrot
½ an onion
3 cloves of garlic
½ a cubanelle pepper
3 tiny tiny sweet Italian peppers
and I chopped them into tiny dices. I popped them in a stock pot with 2 TBS heated olive oil. I added my package of rice and my piece of lamb and let everything brown up together.

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Then I added:

2 bay leaves
1 TBS of each – sumac, za’atar, coriander seeds
salt & pepper
about 2 cups of plum tomatoes in their juice
1 can cannellini beans
½ fresh roma tomato
4 cups of water

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I let it come to a boil. Then I simmered it on low for about 1 hour. Roberto and I took a walk. When we got back I added about 2 ½ cups of chopped assorted greens – chard, beet greens and spinach. I let simmer another 15 minutes while I put a loaf of olive bread in the oven to warm up.

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We poured a few glasses of wine and dinner was served. It was fantastic. Nothing wasted. Super Healthy. Inexpensive. Delicious. SCORE!