Garlicky Spinach and Kale Butter

Warning: this garlic bread made with spinach and kale butter is dangerously tasty! Gluten-haters don’t be afraid, you can easily make this gluten-free by swapping out the bread with your preferred brand. No matter what bread you choose, you can pack in the greens and make a new favorite side for dinner. I especially like to serve this mouth-watering garlic bread when I’m entertaining!

This recipe isn’t just to get a healthy dose of greens and garlic into your system (or the bellies of little ones), but once you taste it there is no doubt that you will be clamoring for kale, chard, green onions, spinach, and herbs from the garden to make more.

You can use whatever you have growing fresh in the garden for this recipe. Grab a colander and a pair of scissors and head outside. See what’s green and flavorful and ready to be harvested. Is it time to eat the spinach before it bolts, is your kale taller than you, or do you have an abundance of green onions flopping everywhere? Whatever you can find, fill up your colander and head back inside. Let’s make green butter!

Ingredients

• a medium sized colander loosely packed with various greens like kale, chard, spinach, green onions, garlic scapes, parsley, basil, and sage
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1-2 cloves of garlic
• salt to taste
• Loaf of good quality uncut bread

Make it!

1. Wash the greens well and remove any woody stems.
2. Pack the whole lot of greens and the garlic into a food processor and pulse a few times to greatly reduce the volume.
3. Add the butter, olive oil, and salt to the food processor and blend until you have a thick green paste.
4. Slice the loaf of bread from top to not quite the bottom. Don’t cut the loaf all the way through so that the bottom is still holding it together.
5. Generously spread green butter in between the slices and then wrap it up in foil.
6. You can throw the whole thing on the grill or bake it in the over at 350 degrees until it is warmed through and crispy on the outside.