Sally Schneider
Sally Schneider

If you pile a bunch of washed and stemmed greens like chard or spinach or kale in a shallow skillet with a few tablespoons of water, cover them and set over high heat, they’ll steam just fine without a proper steamer; most of the water evaporates by the time they’ve become tender, so they’ll be no loss in vitamins.  Then, you can add some olive oil or butter to the bottom of the pan to saute the greens.

The problem is that the bulky greens defy the lid, lifting it up, making it impossible to have the seal necessary for steaming. I recommend keeping a rock handy for weighting down the lid.I found the rock, above, on a beach in France when I was looking for a suitable stone to be a make-shift pestle to pound thyme, rosemary and olive oil in a big mortar at the house I was staying in. It is also good for crushing cloves of garlic right on the counter, and cracking spices like peppercorns and coriander seed. I seem to find new uses for it every week.

Rocks foraged on the beach or outdoors have endless uses at home. This smaller rock keeps the freezer door of my office fridge closed:

Sally Schneider
Sally Schneider

Related posts: Chicken Under a Rock
Rocks as Doorstops (Sculpture)

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6 replies on “more rocks in the kitchen: for steaming greens and…

  1. From our many trips to Greece, I have collections of all kinds of stones that I make frequent use of in the kitchen. I have small pretty stones filling a soap dish to set my sponge on to drain. I use smooth dark stones as place cards when I have company (silver or gold paint pen works well). I set tea candles in a bowl of stones as a centerpiece. And, I put them in the bottom of glass vases for stability and beauty. Love the idea of the stone on top of the lid–I end up using a full tea pot and that’s just too tippy!

  2. Andrea, these are such wonderful ideas, made all the more vivid from the stones being from Chris. I especially like the stones in the soap dish…
    Thanks so much for sharing them.

  3. I haven’t tried greens, but I love doing the rock thing to meat.
    I use a cast iron skillet and then a second cast iron skillet with a brick from the Bank Tavern…….
    So now I’m going to have to modify my brick for greens.
    And BTW someday you’re going to get a bank tavern brick as a present.

  4. I use a somewhat cylindrical stone as a replacement pestle for the one that rolled off the counter and shattered. Also use a flatter one to smush and rub garlic and salt in my wood salad bowl before I put in the greens. And of course, using a stone to smack garlic cloves for removing skins is better/safer than using the the flat side of a knife. Living near the ocean, I always come home with a few interesting stones in my pockets, so thanks for the suggestions for using them!

  5. I would LOVE to see your rocks and stones in action. Lucky you, living near the ocean.

  6. maybe silly , but anyone tried using pebble stones in the oven , on a baking sheet ?
    thinking of small, self-made pizzas , maybe they taste better that way .

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