GREENS!

[rooftop1000]

I have just recently discovered Rainbow chard...had some last night just simmered the stalks 5 min added shredded leaves another min or two then sauteed a clove of garlic in olive oil and added drained chard. Toss a few times and dust with Parmigian cheese..

Yummy with out any hint of bitterness

Tonight the little bit leftover will get mixed with some ravioli with marinara

Tracey

[jdtofbna]

yum, yum, greens, my favorite food! Thanks for all these great ideas. For me it's beans and greens, at least once a week. I usually use kale or broccoli raab, saute with onions, loads of garlic, red pepper flakes, take the lazy way out and dump in a can of cannellinis, plenty of salt and pepper and finish it with a good squeeze of lemon. Sometimes I add chicken stock to make it more of a soupy consistency.

[Abra]

I'm bumping this up because it's spring and beautiful greens are starting to fill the stands at the farmers' market. Last night I made a delicious pie of Swiss chard in a chestnut pastry crust. The recipe is here, and it makes a great dish to take along to a potluck or office lunch party.

Edited May 28, 2008 by Abra (log)

[Emily_R]

Had to share my absolute hands down favorite way to do kale. Blanch the kale and then chop coarsely. Saute a big batch of chopped garlic in some extra virgin olive oil. Add kale, saute, then add at the end a handful of raisins, a handful of toasted walnuts, and some nice crumbled feta, along with lots of fresh pepper. HEAVEN! The savory of the kale, sweet of raisins, salty of the feta... I'm getting hungry just thinking about it.

[SobaAddict70]

I've been on a greens kick lately. This thread has given me a few new ideas though.

Tagliatelle, herbed breadcrumbs, turnip greens and anchovies (dinner from about 3 weeks ago)

[Carlovski]

I find most greens love a bit of anchovy - especially the more bitter varieties. My usual approach is to fry some chopped anchovy, garlic and crushed dried chilli in olive oil then add the greens (You can blanch the tougher varieties first). Saute for a while, splash in a little water/wine and put on a lid. Works well as a side dish, or toss with pasta.

[miladyinsanity]

Hest88, watercress was the only greens that Dad boiled the life out of, so I never developed a taste for them until I got older. I'll have to pick some up the next time I'm at the grocer's.

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Yeah, my mother used to make soup with them too, which I think is a waste of good vegetable! Watercress is so easy, because you can swish it around the sink, and then throw it into a few inches of boiling water. I just sort of let it sit in the water for 3 seconds, flip it over to get the watercress at the top cooked, let it cook for maybe 10-15 seconds or so more depending on how it's looking, and then take it out of the pot.

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That's the only way my mom cooks watercress, and it's the only way I eat it, LOL. And I usually hate vegetables that are not crisp.

[C. sapidus]

I love greens – Southern, Asian, Indian, they are all good. I recently discovered Swiss chard tacos, from Mexican Everyday:

Stir-fried greens are wonderful. Gailan . . .

. . . and stir-fried spinach with garlic.

My all-time favorites, though, are greens cooked with Indian spices. Bhaji with spinach and mustard greens, from My Bombay Kitchen (plus a bunch of other stuff) . . .

. . . a quick bhaji with frozen chopped spinach and coconut chutney . . .

. . . and one of my favorites from a recent Indian cooking binge - palak shorva.

[Abra]

Mmm, mustard greens. The French way with them is a real treat. Just rinse, chop, and toss them in a pot to wilt and simmer until tender in the water that clings to the leaves. When the greens are wilted, add a splash of cream and simmer until the cream is thick and the greens are perfectly tender. In all this takes no more than 7-8 minutes and produces something really delicious for almost no effort.

Bruce, those Indian dishes look wonderful. Want to share any recipes?

[Fugu]

Taro leaves simmered in coconut milk, ginger garlic and onions and flavored with dried, salted fish. Served with a bowl of steaming rice, wow. It's like mixing brandade de morue and creamed spinach, with ginger.

Edited May 29, 2008 by Fugu (log)

[C. sapidus]

Bruce, those Indian dishes look wonderful.  Want to share any recipes?

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Thank you, Abra! I am happy to share recipes.

Bhaji, from My Bombay Kitchen.

I added palak shorva / shorba to RecipeGullet (click).

Enjoy!

[Dianabanana]

We most commonly eat it in a dish we fondly call "mofo."  (The name of the dish came from the time back in the very early nineties when blackened everything was very popular.  I asked a professional chef friend of mine how to blacken fish, since the blackening spices themselves didn't seem to be doing the trick.  He was a skinny southern black guy, and gay as Christmas.  He said to me, "Honey, you just gotta get that skillet hot as a muthafucka.")

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Well if that's not one of the best things I've ever read on eGullet!

Carry on.

[monavano]

I adore greens-even crave them. I once ate so much steamed broccoli that I got sick! Fortunately, the incident wasn't a deal-breaker and I continue to enjoy it.

Here's a dinner I made recently:

Fettuccine With Rainbow Chard And Grilled Chicken In A Gorgonzola And White Wine Sauce

Recipe here.

[hummingbirdkiss]

my garden is just bursting with young greens right now ...brocolli rabe, escarole, collards ..and lots of baby onions to thin out ..along with Italian parsley and tender thyme leaves....so I made some spaghetti

I also minced a handful of the greens sizzled them in lots of butter with the fresh herbs and baby onions...and put it on the sourdough bread with parmesan

[chappie]

I'm housesitting for my dad, whose garden is overflowing with swiss chard. Having never used it, I picked a ton of leaves, cleaned them really well, spun them dry and sauteed in a bunch of olive oil, garlic and red pepper flake.

Whoa........bitter!

Is it now too late to use this stuff, or is there a method to kill off some of the bitterness? I can take some, but this was too much.

[nakji]

I've been trying to think of new ways to incorporate greens into my diet, since fully half the produce market seems full of these, and I feel it's a shame to ignore them. I like to saute spinach with sesame oil and garlic. When I get my hands on fresh pea shoots, I put them into a nabe/hot pot with mushrooms and a spicy broth. I've never cooked mustard greens before, though, and I've been wondering what to do with those, water spinach and other exotic (to me) greens I have at my disposal.

ETA: I'm particularly interested in soup or pasta ideas.

[heidih]

I find that when I ask the at the produce stand the answer I get from the vendor or the purchaser who appears to know what she is doing, is invariably "soup" or "stir fry". Those are always good ways to explore the taste. After that, I may sub them into a Western prep. When they are abundant and cheap as it sounds like they are for you, I would just experiment. Once you get into a greens habit you will crave them every day.

[Emily_R]

So for years I was kind of indifferent to sauteed swiss chard. I wanted to like it, but I just couldn't seem to manage to (despite loving sauteed spinach and kale). Then about a month ago I had a breakthrough. I did my usual sauteed swiss chard with lots of garlic, in olive oil. When it was just about done wilting, I added a splash of soy sauce and a splash of white balsamic vinegar. WOW! Instantaneous transformation from something meh into something delicious!

[nakji]

A little acid goes a long way in brightening up greens, that's for sure. A drop of Chinkiang vinegar is also a good addition to stir-fried greens.

After that, I may sub them into a Western prep.

Like - tossed with pasta and olive oil? I was thinking some might stand up to that treatment. What's the general method for putting greens into a soup, though? Do they have to be fairly sturdy greens, or can more delicate ones be used as well?

[heidih]

Thats the beauty of the greens variety. Think along the lines of the soups in Vietnam. The bok choy type greens might need a bit of cooking, but the finer more lettuce like ones can be finely sliced or left whole if manageable size and tossed in near the end; sort of between the cooked ones and the finishing herbs.

Greens sauteed with garlic or onion or both are a great way to really taste the flavor. Tossed with pasta works, as does tossed with potatoes - background starches that support the lovely greens.

[Jenni]

I love greens, and can't live without them. A great way with spring greens is stirfried with a tadka of cumin, ajwain, dried red chillies and asafetida. A little garlic is also really good in this.

[Katie Meadow]

Kale: lots of soups lend themselves to an addition of Kale. I like to add it about 20 minutes before the soup is done. I especially like barley soups with kale.

Chard: favorite way to eat chard is on pizza, sauteed lightly with garlic first, then add as a topping. Great combined with radicchio (also sauteed first) or carmelized onions.

Collards: love them traditional, cooked with vinegar, honey and smoky ham broth.

Mustard greens: the only way I found them appealing is on pasta, with some chopped walnuts or pine nuts, and a blizzard of pecorino. They are bitter, no?

Watercress: yum. Sadly, I have to stay away from vinegar lately, but I've discovered that simmering watercress in ham stock for 10 minutes is delicious, and I don't feel the need for the sweet-sour component. I got that idea from Peacock and Lewis, Gift of Southern Cooking. Recently a holiday issue of Fine Cooking had an excellent recipe for potato-watercress cakes. I loved them, my husband was less enthusiastic. His favorite use of watercress: rinse, dry and trim a couple of batches and arrange on a serving platter. Take a roast chicken out of the oven (there's always one in there, right?) and put it directly on the watercress. Let it sit on the cress ten minutes before carving, then carve and distribute over the greens. They get warm and juicy, and don't need anything else.

[paulraphael]

A little acid goes a long way in brightening up greens, that's for sure. A drop of Chinkiang vinegar is also a good addition to stir-fried greens.

Acid, yes. And a little bite, and a little sweet. I served stir-fried kale with shallots and blood oranges once, and it worked brilliantly. Since then, mixing bitter greens with citrus fruit and and some member of the onion family (shallots and garlic seem to work best; nothing cooked more than slightly) has been a favorite combination. Works great with broccoli raab as well ... anything green and bitter.

[KatieLoeb]

Just got me a fancy Professional model Healthmaster Mixer so I'm hoping to start drinking my greens. I know I'm never able eat enough fruits and veggies, so I'm trying to make it easier on myself to see if I can accomplish that. I went to the market today and bought a whole mess of varied fruits (apples, pears, bananas, melons, mango, oranges) as well as some tomatoes, peppers, carrots, broccoli and spinach. Hoping to begin eating/drinking a rainbow of varied healthy smoothies starting tonight. I'll let you all know how it works out...

Edited February 1, 2010 by KatieLoeb (log)