Greens and Paneer

Seared paneer is the star of this dish, served on a beautiful spicy bed of sautéed greens that is sure to impress any guest or light up your dinner table. The collard greens are flavored with Cilantro Blaze and the paneer is finished with our Green Chutney blend. Paneer is a mild, milky flavored cheese that is used in several dishes as well as desserts throughout India. It can be found in many larger local grocery stores as well as Indian specialty markets.

Recipe and photo by Chef Rasul Welch

Tadka is a great way to boost flavor. Don’t worry, we’ll talk about that in a sec. In the meantime you could take this opportunity to go to your local Indian store and get a bag of “Panch Puran” or Bengali five spice.

While you’re doing that you might as well braise some collard greens. I don’t really care if you are a kale person. Personally, I prefer things that don’t taste like dirt.

1 cup trinity (onion, green peppers, celery, diced)

3 lbs collards (or whatever greens you want. But seriously, do collards)

2 tbsp Cilantro Blaze

2 cups water.

Small pinch of MSG. If you’re crunchy you can use nutritional yeast or a little miso. I’m not going to fight you on this.

Salt and pepper to taste.

Sautée your trinity until brown. Add everything else and cook 40 min or until tender.

That should give you just enough time to run to the Indian store like we were talking about before.

Oh and while you’re out go over to Middlefield Cheese Co-op and get some paneer. It’s some of the best I’ve ever had.

Sear that paneer on medium high heat until brown on all sides or if, like me, appearance is more important than tradition, two sides.

Once that’s done turn off the stove and season your crispy and soft lil cheese buddies with salt and Green Chutney Powder. Throw some of that Panch Puran we were talking about before in the ghee, which still should be hot enough to make them sputter a little. If it isn’t, turn your stove back on.

Put the paneer on the greens and spoon the sputtering seeds and a little of the ghee over the paneer. Do not fear the ghee.