Green vegetables we have never eaten...

[Darienne]

Somewhat humiliating confession time:  Here's a list of the fairly common green vegetables which we have never cooked or eaten:  collard greens, fennel, kale, chard, beet greens, watercress, arugula, endive and turnip greens.  No doubt I am missing some I don't even know about.   (No exotic vegetables please which I can't buy in our nearby small Ontario rather provincial city.)

 

I need help.  From the get go.  Where to start?  How to cook them?  What casserole type dishes can I include them in (possibly with the intent to hide their existence from Ed until I can get him to accept them.)  Which ones can we eat raw?  Which ones might Ed be willing to eat raw?

 

Thanks for any and all help.  

[blue_dolphin]

You know of my affinity for cookbooks, so that's where I'd start.  I'd recommend paying a visit to the cookbook section of your bigger library to see if they have any vegetable cookbooks available.  Deborah Madison is reliable and has a lot of titles out there. Joshua McFadden's Six Seasons is a great vegetable cookbook and I'm really enjoying Hetty Liu McKinnon's Tenderheart (great fennel section in this one.)  An oldie but goodie is The Victory Garden Cookbook by Marian Morash.  I really like Abra Berens' book Ruffage which has lots of great ideas but may not be for everyone (few photos, very brief recipes, some are just sketches (literally just little pen & ink drawings with minimal text.)

[Senior Sea Kayaker]

22 minutes ago, Darienne said:

Somewhat humiliating confession time:  Here's a list of the fairly common green vegetables which we have never cooked or eaten:  collard greens, fennel, kale, chard, beet greens, watercress, arugula, endive and turnip greens.  No doubt I am missing some I don't even know about.   (No exotic vegetables please which I can't buy in our nearby small Ontario rather provincial city.)

 

I need help.  From the get go.  Where to start?  How to cook them?  What casserole type dishes can I include them in (possibly with the intent to hide their existence from Ed until I can get him to accept them.)  Which ones can we eat raw?  Which ones might Ed be willing to eat raw?

 

Thanks for any and all help.  

 

Two books I would recommend are Vivian Howard's 'Deep Run Roots' which covers a lot of greens with recipes and Abra Berens 'Ruffage', as recommended by @blue_dolphin, which again covers a lot of greens and recipes.

In my opinion some of the above are best cooked long such as kale, collards and turnip greens, some can  treated like spinach such as beet, chard, arugula and radish greens, and some are great raw such as the greens found in those mixed greens clamshells.

I would certainly add escarole to your list to try. 

Have fun.

 

[TicTac]

29 minutes ago, Darienne said:

Somewhat humiliating confession time:  Here's a list of the fairly common green vegetables which we have never cooked or eaten:  collard greens, fennel, kale, chard, beet greens, watercress, arugula, endive and turnip greens.  No doubt I am missing some I don't even know about.   (No exotic vegetables please which I can't buy in our nearby small Ontario rather provincial city.)

 

I need help.  From the get go.  Where to start?  How to cook them?  What casserole type dishes can I include them in (possibly with the intent to hide their existence from Ed until I can get him to accept them.)  Which ones can we eat raw?  Which ones might Ed be willing to eat raw?

 

Thanks for any and all help.  

Not humiliating at all...everyone's different!

 

Collard greens I am in the same boat as you...but from what I gather, a long - low and slow cook with some smoked meat is the key.

 

Fennel, not sure i would call that a green veg - as you are eating the bulb, which is nearly all white.  Slice it on a mandolin very thin, add a bit of fresh orange juice, salt and olive oil - K.I.S.S. method wins here.

 

Chard/beet & turnip are great, sweet and can be cooked like spinach.

 

Kale.....you aint missing much! 🤣

 

Watercress is best eaten raw in salads.  Same with Arugula (you can make a pesto from it which is great).

 

Endives are fantastic raw (a bit bitter) or broiled with a bit of butter and cheese/bread crumbs.

 

New foods are so much fun!

 

 

 

[blue_dolphin]

collard greens - these guys need long cooking.  You can also stuff them as you would make stuffed cabbage.  Vivian Howard's Deep Run Roots has a great collards section as does Six Seasons, mentioned above. 

fennel - I think of fennel more as a stalky bulb than a green, though it has plenty of feathery fronds. It has an anise flavor that's muted by cooking.  Raw, it's delicious in salads with oranges and other citrus. As mentioned above, Tenderheart has a great fennel section.

chard, beet greens, turnip greens - I put all these in the "cooking greens" category along with mustard greens.  Sneak them in anywhere you put cooked spinach

kale - I much prefer the dark green lacinato kale (aka dinosaur kale, Tuscan kale, cavolo nero) to the common curly kale.  Takes longer to cook than the greens above but can generally be used in the same way. Baby kale is available in my local farmers markets and can be used fresh in salads or cooked.

watercress, arugula, endive  - I generally eat all of these fresh, though endive (which comes in many varieties) is lovely braised. See here for more endive ideas.

Edited June 28, 2023 by blue_dolphin (log)

[Darienne]

Off to the library holdings, both locally and city (which is now available) or ILL.

 

Escarole is added.   Thanks @Senior Sea Kayaker(Would love to visit Cape Breton.  Son lives in Halifax, a lovely civilized city)

 

Believe it or not, I am a very dedicated vegetable and salad eater.  And always have been.  I suppose it's partly that I grew up in Ontario and Quebec in the 40s and there were so few vegetables available then in grocery stores.  (Was a major fight back when to get Ed to try Romaine.  We were both raised on ice berg lettuce.  Now he has no interest in ice berg lettuce.  Don't tell him I told. )  

[heidih]

An older (2001) reference is Vegetables from Amaranth to Zucchini by Elizabeth Schneider.  More of a reference book and trends to "how to use" and simpler dishes. 

[kayb]

Best method for cooking any greens -- don't bother.

 

As I believe I've posted before, not sure how I managed to grow up poor, in the South, in the country, and detest greens -- but I do.

 

[Tropicalsenior]

@Darienne at least you can get all those vegetables. Here, of the whole list, I can get arugula. (once in a while, maybe)

Edited June 28, 2023 by Tropicalsenior (log)

[Darienne]

3 minutes ago, Tropicalsenior said:

@Darienne at least you can get all those vegetables. Here, of the whole list, I can get arugula. (once in a while, maybe)

Actually I don't know if I can get them all.  I've heard of all these.  In my local village (population circa 1,400) grocery store, and indeed it's a chain, I can't even get eggplant or Brussels Sprouts.  They don't carry them...because no one will buy them.  They gave up years ago.  

[Senior Sea Kayaker]

47 minutes ago, Darienne said:

 

47 minutes ago, Darienne said:

 

 

and there were so few vegetables available then in grocery stores.  (Was a major fight back when to get Ed to try Romaine.  We were both raised on ice berg lettuce.

Montreal in the 60's. Iceberg lettuce, root vegetables and tomatoes in those old straight cardboard packages with cello tops of 4 tomatoes. Or canned veg.

One saving grace for me was I played baseball in the summer and shinny most of the year with some Italian guys and once in a while their mothers would make food for us. All the families had extensive backyard gardens with vegetables I'd never seen and it goes without saying the food was delicious. 

 

Edited June 28, 2023 by Senior Sea Kayaker (log)

[FauxPas]

1 hour ago, Darienne said:

What casserole type dishes can I include them in (possibly with the intent to hide their existence from Ed until I can get him to accept them.)  Which ones can we eat raw?  Which ones might Ed be willing to eat raw?

 

Deb Perelman has a few ideas in her books and on her website - Smitten Kitchen. I've made her Pizza Beans casserole with kale  a couple of times now. She is often trying to incorporate more greens in her dishes for her kids in ways that they don't notice or don't mind.  🙂

 

I throw kale or chard or beet greens in with soups, especially veggie or bean soups. 

 

When making salads with other ingredients/lettuces, I sometimes add little bits of baby kale, young chard and/or beet greens. My husband isn't keen on these veggies on their own, but when mixed in with something familiar, he's ok with it. 

 

I sometimes use kale, chard or beet greens when I make lasagne. 

 

 

[lindag]

1 hour ago, Darienne said:

Actually I don't know if I can get them all.  I've heard of all these.  In my local village (population circa 1,400) grocery store, and indeed it's a chain, I can't even get eggplant or Brussels Sprouts.  They don't carry them...because no one will buy them.  They gave up years ago.  

Regional preferences are funny that way.

[lindag]

1 hour ago, TicTac said:

Not humiliating at all...everyone's different!

 

Collard greens I am in the same boat as you...but from what I gather, a long - low and slow cook with some smoked meat is the key.

 

Fennel, not sure i would call that a green veg - as you are eating the bulb, which is nearly all white.  Slice it on a mandolin very thin, add a bit of fresh orange juice, salt and olive oil - K.I.S.S. method wins here.

 

Chard/beet & turnip are great, sweet and can be cooked like spinach.

 

Kale.....you aint missing much! 🤣

 

Watercress is best eaten raw in salads.  Same with Arugula (you can make a pesto from it which is great).

 

Endives are fantastic raw (a bit bitter) or broiled with a bit of butter and cheese/bread crumbs.

 

New foods are so much fun!

 

 

 

I have to confess to most of your s as well.

The exceptions would be fennel (try it in soups, it's amazing), kale (meh), and arugula, which I like occasionally in salads.

Edited June 28, 2023 by lindag (log)

[TdeV]

I grew up eating bread and butter with watercress sandwiches. Tasty.

 

Edfited to add that it's possible the original British version had Marmite on it, but we kids would never eat that!

Edited June 28, 2023 by TdeV (log)

[heidih]

Aother consideration is the age of the greens. Young tender (ack flash to restaurant chain Tender Greens) can be nice raw. Channel your inner bunny and take a nibble. 

For a complete immersion try a version of Gumbo Z'Herbes. Example from the late great Leah Chase  https://www.southernliving.com/recipes/leah-chase-gumbo-z-herbes

[Darienne]

OK.  I've done the two library systems searches and have access to only two of the titles: Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone and Ruffage.   I'll borrow them.  Any others will be through ILL.  

 

My own two vegetable cookbooks are too old to even mention some of the above-named green bits.  

 

Added:  Our nearby city library has now extended borrowing privileges to our little rural system libraries.  Why I don't know.  There's nothing in it for the city.  And the process of accessing my borrowing privileges has not been without challenges.  However, I just phoned to see if I could place a hold with my out-of-town membership and the nice librarian set it all up for me as he learned also how to do it.  And now I simply await email notification.  Who knew?

Edited June 28, 2023 by Darienne (log)

[blue_dolphin]

1 hour ago, Darienne said:

I've done the two library systems searches and have access to only two of the titles: Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone and Ruffage.   I'll borrow them.  Any others will be through ILL.

 

It's been less than a month since Tenderheart, the Hetty McKinnon book I mentioned, was published in the US and Canada so chances of getting that might be slim.  

At least in my area, a lot of libraries are reluctant to send books out on ILL when they are new and may have waiting lists.  My library won't even request an ILL on a book that's less than a year from its pub date.  

All the others that have been mentioned are older. 

 

Another Deborah Madison book that may be worth seeking out is Vegetable Literacy.  And another oldie (1984) is Bert Green's Green on Greens. 

[TicTac]

Here’s a few more possibilities for your list (and others) which are probably growing in your backyard…

 

 

lambs quarters aka wild spinach.  Insanely nutritional (makes spinach look like junk food!) and grows like….a weed!

 

 

purslane (the creeper, the tall girl is a lemon tree) - a sadly overlooked absolute SUPERFOOD!

both great raw or quickly cooked.

 

[Annie_H]

A cookbook or recipe will not help if you do not have access to your list of un-available greens/root crops/ salads...google search, you are surrounded by wealthy growing conditions. A dozen or more farms in your area are growing what is on your list. 

Unfamiliar and do not care for them. ?, no reason to choke it down.

I fill my crisper 24/7 365 days year. All of the above on your list and then some. 

If you like slaws, shaved slaws, all can be included. I made a shaved slaw last night with just about the entire crisper drawer. Brussel sprouts, fennel, carrots. cabbages, kale, chards, etc.

 

 

 

[weinoo]

57 minutes ago, Annie_H said:

I made a shaved slaw last night with just about the entire crisper drawer

 

@chromedome's rabbits would probably appreciate this!

[chromedome]

30 minutes ago, weinoo said:

 

@chromedome's rabbits would probably appreciate this!

So would Chromedome. I make that kind of salad a lot, especially in winter when the salad greens at the supermarket are poor.

 

I've had minimal success growing collards here, but I harvest chard, beet greens, turnip greens, radish greens, and usually 2-4 kinds of kale in any given gardening season. I eat a LOT of greens, as you may guess. Two years ago I did very well at my community garden and had over 30 lbs blanched and frozen for the winter. Last year was unsettled because of our move, and all of the family turmoil with my mother-in-law passing, my GF being crippled with arthritis, and of course being treated for cancer myself (it was quite a year!) so I didn't manage nearly that much. I'm optimistic that this year will be much better on that front.

I like a lot of 'em just blanched briefly and then sauteed for a minute or two with garlic and onions. I like pungent greens with sesame seeds, kale in soups and bean dishes, and baby kale just in salads. I've used my garden greens in lieu of grape leaves to make quasi-dolmas. I've even made the Provençal tart with apples, chard and raisins (it was better than you might imagine).

That's just off the top of my head. It's been a busy day of visiting (currently at my mom's nursing home, waiting to video-chat with my nephew and his family out in BC).

[TdeV]

Darienne, are you interested in Deborah Madison's Silky Braised Chard and Cilantro? This is a most superior dish. It's started with no added water. Her standard recipe uses 1/3 cup white rice, but I use 1/2 cup and then no additional starch needed for dinner. PM me if interested.

[TdeV]

12 minutes ago, chromedome said:

 I've even made the Provençal tart with apples, chard and raisins (it was better than you might imagine).

 

Ooh. Might you have a recipe for that? 🙂

[chromedome]

I just Googled it. It's been a few years, I have no idea which recipe I used.