OH THOSE TASTY GREENS:
I discovered a wonderful “green” back in the 1970′s I had a huge garden and grew a lot of beets. I didn’t know what to do with the huge pile of tops, so I decided to cook them and see what happened. I was shocked at the wonderful sweet, non-bitter, and tenderness of all sized leaves. They all cooked up and tasted the same, including the stems (don’t cut those off!!). I flavored mine with butter, because I was making goat butter and had tons of it frozen all the time. I have been growing beets ever since for both the root and the leaves.
IMPORTANT:
It is important to always use some butter or oil of some kind when you eat greens so your body can absorb the nutrients from then that you otherwise would not be able to do so. Although I’m from South Carolina I have lived in the north – in the country – for a number of years and I find that dandelion greens, the young smaller leaves, are delicious when thoroughly washed and used with tomatoes and cucumbers with some feta cheese and a tablespoon of grape seed oil, ancient sea salt, and a tablespoon of organic apple cider vinegar.
Cooking Your Greens
I love to sauté greens (any kind or mix of them). I first sauté garlic in olive oil, then chop the greens and add them and stir to mix up with the oil and garlic. I add some water and then slap the lid on the pan so that they steam until wilted. They’re great on rice, noodles, or other pasta. Add some chopped onion to the sauté for variety.
If you want to do stir fry, use peanut oil instead of olive oil, and top with a dash of soy sauce.
OR
Steam them and add a dash of vinegar or (best) “pepper sauce” in each serving.
*Pepper Sauce defined: This is a small bottle with tabasco peppers in it, and filled with vinegar that absorbs the hotness of the peppers. When the vinegar is gone, you just add more vinegar.
OR
Sauté a bit of salt pork and then add greens and water and cook away. This is called “a mess of greens.” Serve with above-mentioned “pepper sauce”.
I use my greens, including carrot tops and radish leaves plus over-sized peeled cucumbers, to add to my own “V8” juice. Cut them up, cook until tender then put through the “squeeze’o”. Then I can it. Tomatoes are included and are the base. I use all kinds of garden vegetables at the end of the season including: peppers, Swiss chard, onion tops, parsley, beets, carrots, zucchini squash, etc. It is surprising how wonderful this tastes, if you have no preconceived idea what it “should” taste like (and it is good for you!). I have such an abundance of vegetables this year that I have already canned 20 quarts.
I know most people cook their greens to death, but we just steam ours until tender, salt and butter lightly. Kirkland’s No Salt is a great addition. I will also put a few in the freezer but only a few because we have them early in the spring until early summer then in the fall until late November. Certain ones we dry, like red-stemmed spinach and Swiss chard, then use the food processor to turn them into a powder. Now we can add this to soups or use as a winter broth when hot water and a little seasoning like dried onion is added along with a little salt and pepper (and if you like a richer broth, powdered milk and butter). Great quickie addition to any meal or make it a lunch with a slice of cheese!
Radish leaves are very edible; I don’t know about carrots as I have never tried them, but I would bet they would be very tasty. As far as cooking various greens, including cabbage, there’s only one way to do it. The magic words are bacon grease. Cook 6 slices of bacon in a large skillet. Remove the bacon and fill the skillet with greens. If you have no lid for the skillet, use foil. Let them steam until the volume starts decreasing, take off the foil, and stir until they look ready to eat. Enjoy!
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