The Good King

Good King Henry is an ancient herb apparently used by man since neolithic times. It's supposed to have been brought to northern Europe by the Romans as part of their essentials but similar plants like fat hen must have been present already and used as part of the general foraging of greens for man and beast.

And to first taste it's not terribly enticing. If you follow the link above you'll see my early attempts with it as a crop plant weren't overly successful. It lacks much in the way of distinctive flavour but makes up for it by being really rather bitter. However, over time I've come to love it, and I mean love it because there are moments when I crave nothing else...

One of of those moments came today. I picked a big bunch and went to work on Good King Henry with Bean and Tomatoes.

1 bunch of Good King Henry (or if you don't have any Callaloo (amaranth greens), mature spinach leaves or chard will make a good substitute).
1 medium onion, chopped
2 tomatoes, diced
a small handful of french bean pods, topped, tailed and chopped into short lengths
Rice miso to taste, dissolved in a little warm water to make mixing in easier.

Wash your greens, a lot of pollen will come off the flowers. Chop roughly into bite size pieces removing any really tough stems and blanch in boiling water for five minutes. Drain. If you're really worried about bitterness you can repeat this step or omit it altogether for sweeter options like spinach or chard.

Fry the onion until just beginning to brown. Add the blanched greens, the chopped beans and tomatoes with just enough water to come about half way up the panful. Simmer for 15 minutes until the beans are cooked through, then add the miso. Stir around, turn off the heat and leave for five minutes to combine the flavours. Add pepper if liked.

Serve with your favourite grain. I wanted plain bulgar but ended up with a quinoa mix because it was all there was but any simple grain like barley or brown rice would be fine.

If you find it too bitter salt and lemon will help a lot, but don't overdo it, learn to love the hardship.