Delicate leafy greens panfried with summer squash, garnished with zucchini flowers and served with a creamy tahini lime dressing. These delicious sautéed summer vegetables make for a super quick, vegetarian dinner recipe, ready in just 20 minutes. Inspired by the fried wild greens from Zelda Tears of the Kingdom and Breath of the Wild.
These delicious panfried summer greens are super quick and easy to throw together for a quick weekday dinner – 20 minutes is all you need. Consider serving them with some equally quick protein options for a balanced late summer meal – turkey burgers, grilled lamb chops, or meat, fish, and mushroom skewers.
This recipe is also an amazing way to use up all that leftover zucchini that you might have hanging around in great abundance – as tends to be the case in zucchini gardens in late August. It’s also a wonderful opportunity to start eating zucchini flowers, they’re quite delicious!
The dressing is also just divine for this recipe. It works well on other dishes too – salads, stir fries, grilled vegetables, or grilled mushrooms. The tahini and the lime work surprisingly well together, especially if you add a whole whack of garlic in there too!
Fried Wild Greens in Zelda Tears of the Kingdom and Breath of the Wild: At Least One Herb / Vegetable / Flower
You can make fried wild greens at any cooking pot in Hyrule by cooking at least one vegetable, herb, or flower. This does not include mushrooms or fruits. Copious fried wild greens is made by cooking at least four different vegetables, flowers or herbs together. This copious dish is especially useful in Tears of the Kingdom, if you want to improve your horse’s stats through the horse god, Malanya.
Many vegetables, herbs or flowers in Hyrule have elemental behaviours for endurance, speed, attack, defence, or stealth, or protection from cold, heat, or electricity. Adding one of these elemental ingredients to your dish can impart that effect to the wild greens dish as a whole.
- Extra hearts – hearty radish and big hearty radish
- Gloom Recovery – sundelion, sun pumpkin
- Endurance – endura carrot
- Speed – lotus seed, swift carrot, swift violet
- Attack – mighty thistle
- Defense – armoranth, fortified pumpkin
- Stealth – blue nightshade, silent princess
- Chilling – cool safflina
- Heating – spicy pepper, warm safflina
- Electric – electric safflina
You can also try using more than one unit of the same vegetable, herb or flower to increase the number of hearts in the dish.
For copious fried wild greens without any elemental effects, use at least two vegetables, herbs, or flowers that have different elemental effects. Then, in cooking, the effects will cancel each other out, resulting in plain copious fried wild greens. This is also the exact dish Malanya the horse god request – the one time you actually want to make a dish without any special bells or whistles!
Panfried Greens and Zucchini with Tahini Lime Dressing
These scrumptious pan fried greens and zucchini medallions are ready to eat in just 20 minutes. This recipe makes enough for panfried vegetables for at least 4 people.
Ingredients
Vegetables
- 4 cups (1 bunch) Swiss chard
- 3 cups (½ bunch) kale
- 2 cups zucchini, sliced
- 4-6 zucchini flowers (optional)
- 2 tbsp cooking oil
Dressing
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp tahini
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp maple syrup
- 1 tsp lime zest
- ¼ cup lime juice
- ¼ cup garlic cloves, minced or roasted
Topping
- 1 cup fresh herbs, chopped – cilantro, parsley, chives, etc.
Tools
- large frying pan
- measuring cup
- measuring spoons
- mixing bowl
- knife
- cutting board
- garlic press
- cooking spoon
Instructions
- Make the dressing: In a mixing bowl, combine the olive oil, tahini, soy sauce, maple syrup, lime zest, lime juice, and minced or roasted garlic cloves. Mix until the ingredients are well combined and the dressing is smooth. Set aside.
- Chop the fresh herbs, then set aside.
- Prepare the vegetables for frying: Wash and dry the Swiss chard and kale leaves. Remove any tough stems. You can keep the leaves whole or cut them into smaller pieces. Slice the zucchini into rounds.
- Heat the cooking oil over medium heat in a large frying pan.
- Add the leafy greens and pan fry for 3 minutes, stirring constantly.
- Add the sliced zucchini and cook for another 3-5 minutes until they start to soften and develop a light golden colour.
- Add the zucchini flowers and cook the greens for an additional 1-2 minutes.
- Transfer the fried greens to a serving plate and drizzle liberally with the tahini-lime dressing. Toss the vegetables to coat them evenly in the dressing.
- Sprinkle with chopped fresh herbs. Serve immediately while the veggies are still warm.
Harvesting & Preparing Zucchini Flowers
These delicious panfried greens and zucchini are perfect for summer, however they can be made any time of year. Outside of zucchini season, try making this dish with some roughly chopped green cabbage, sliced mushrooms, or even sliced bell peppers!
Zucchini Flower Facts
A few words of wisdom about zucchini flowers, since eating them might be a somewhat new experience:
There are two types of zucchini flowers: male and female.
Male flowers grow on a thin stem.
Female flowers have a small zucchini attached to the base.
Both types of flowers can be harvested and eaten. They can be consumed raw or cooked.
Harvesting Zucchini Flowers
Zucchini flowers are best harvested in the morning when they are fully open. This is when the flowers are also most flavourful.
The flowers tend to be quite delicate and have a short shelf life, so it’s best to keep the stalks of the flowers in some water until you use them (like you would with any flowers).
Try to use zucchini flowers the same day they are harvested.
Check for Pests
Before harvesting, check the flowers for signs of damage or pests. Choose flowers that are in good condition, especially for raw consumption.
Cutting the Flowers
Simply snip the flowers off using a sharp pair of scissors. Leave a little bit of stem attached to keep them fresh in a cup of water if you aren’t using them immediately.
Remove the Stamens
Once you’ve harvested the flowers, carefully remove the stamen from the inside of the flower. This is the pollinating part of the flower. It’s bitter and not typically consumed.
Eating Zucchini Flowers
Zucchini flowers can be used in various dishes, both savoury and sweet. Here are a few popular ways to enjoy them:
- stuffed and fried
- added raw to salads
- sautéed or stir-fried
- topping on pizza
- In frittatas and omelettes
Keep in mind that zucchini flowers are seasonal, so if you’re not growing them yourself, check at farmer’s markets or specialty grocery stores starting in July. They can be available through to the end of August and possibly into September.
Did you make these panfried greens and zucchini with tahini lime dressing? Let me know!
Simmering Starfruit 
Leave a comment