This easy and quick recipe for a fragrant and satisfying dish just happens to also be good for you, vegan, and perfect for lent. Adding a little bit of lemon juice to the tomato sauce is traditional in Greece, especially in rural areas like Mani, on the Peloponnese.
“Yachni” refers to vegetables quickly stewed with tomato and herbs.
You can read all about “horta,” the wild greens of Greece, here.
Method
Heat the oil in a wide pot and sauté the onions and garlic for about 5 minutes, until slightly softened.
Add the greens, mix and continue to sauté for another 5 minutes, until wilted. Add the tomato, salt, pepper, and 100 milliliters of water, and lower the temperature.
Cover with a lid and cook for about 10 minutes.
Remove the lid and add the fennel, mint and lemon zest. Stir and turn the heat back up. Cook for 10 more minutes, until the greens have softened and most of the liquid has evaporized.
Remove from the heat, add lemon juice and serve.
This recipe was previously published in Greek at gastronomos.gr.
Ingredients
800 g wild greens, roughly chopped
100 ml extra virgin olive oil
1/2 kg fresh onions, only the white part, finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/2 bunch of fennel leaves (or substitute dill), without their stems, finely chopped
1/2 mint, without their stems, roughly chopped
600 g tomatoes, grated
1 tsp. lemon zest
30 ml lemon juice (or to taste)
salt and freshly ground pepper
