Understanding Your Greens

In the cooler weeks at the beginning and end of the growing season at Enright Ridge CSA, we see a lot of greens, some of which are strange and unknown to most folks. Mizuna (also called "vitamin greens), yukina, purple mustard greens, beet greens, even kale and collards. How can you tell them apart? And what can you do with them?

Well, here's the secret: greens are greens. If you have a way you like to prepare greens, you can use it for mustard or kale or yukina or most other "cooking greens" (to distinguish them from salad greens). A traditional way to cook greens is to boil them for a while (sometimes quite a while) with some salt pork, and they are good that way, but you can also wash them well and steam them in the water left on them after washing until they are tender--no more than 5 to 7 minutes for most greens--then add a little vinegar and crumbled bacon, and they are pretty darn tasty that way, too.

You can add washed and chopped greens to soup, pasta sauce, or even a quiche. They taste good and they are good for you. If you really want some junk food, though, give kale chips a try. Even if you don't think you like greens, you might just like them this way.

KALE CHIPS
These crispy veggies are a great alternative to chips and taste great with dips or spreads. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Place kale pieces in a bowl and drizzle with vinegar and olive oil. Turn leaves a couple of times to coat, then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Arrange leaves in a single layer on large baking sheets. Bake until crisp, about 20 to 35 minutes, tossing halfway through cooking time and turning the heat down if they get brown before they get crisp. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.