Home > Everyday Gourmet > Archives > 2009 > April > 16 > Entry
HELP! What do I do with ALL the greens!
Our family bought a three-month trial membership at the Waco City Farm.
One of us volunteered to go get the harvest for the week. After several trips under Highway 6, I, um I mean, she discovered the Farm. (She is somewhat directionally challenged.) The trip was worth the effort, though. Each batch of vegetables was carefully placed in the basket provided by the grower, ad the young man named each addition as he put it in the basket. Nodding and smiling and saying, “Thank you,” to the man, this person, who will remain nameless, came home with the goods.
“What did you get?” was the first question.
“Well, let’s see. This is - some kind of kale. This is another kind of kales, and I think he said this is Russian kale. This is a white radish, and this, he said, is Swiss chard - or is that - uh, I can’t really remember.” Onions, potatoes, and turnip greens were easy to recognize, but all this kale was another thing!
We got out the Time and Life Good Food — Vegetables Cook Book, an old book that has wonderful pictures of many of the vegetables. We were able to identify most of them - but not all. The internet was helpful, too.
Every week, except the weeks between the growing seasons, we got a bushel of mostly greens, and we began to learn what to do with them. Some of them we gave to friends; some we cooked eating greens that we had never experienced. We learned that beet greens and kale are wonderful sauteed in a little olive oil, served with crisp chopped bacon (but even cake is good with bacon) and topped with salad olives or balsamic vinegar - or both.
We discovered a great recipe that we made for Good Friday called
Good Luck Gumbo. It is made with a roux, the trinity (onion, green pepper, and celery) and seven different kinds of greens for good luck. It is tasty! It goes without saying that all said greens and most other vegetables need to be served with good brown-on-the-outside, tender-crumb-on-the-inside CORNBREAD!
BTW, if you have cooking suggestions for kohl rabi, please let me know!
Happy Cooking! Karyn
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By Misguided Toolbox
April 20, 2009 3:46 PM | Link to this | Report comment abuse
Have you tried crock potting it, with a can of mushroom soup, diced potatoes and ground meat?
Or maybe running it thro the blender with a lot of eggs and cottage cheese, and baking it as a green, “crustless” quiche?
By Jo Ann
April 21, 2009 8:14 AM | Link to this | Report comment abuse
What great ideas for the greens! Thank you for the HELP!
By Chef Oz
May 1, 2009 11:17 AM | Link to this | Report comment abuse
Howdy to all of ya’ll. I’m alive and kickin’ in Hyde Park. I hope all is well in your fine establishment. I have to say I do love me a big ol’ mess of greens—especially with a sizable chunk of cornbread. I love them slow simmered with ham hocks, onions, a clove or two of garlic and a chipotle pepper for smoke and heat. Do ya’ll know the word LARRUPIN’? Well it is.
By chris
May 8, 2009 8:24 AM | Link to this | Report comment abuse
I made an awesome soup with my kohlrabi with potatoes carrots and kohlrabi pureed up like a potato soup…make sure it’s got a little bacon in it because everything should have a little bacon in it. you could probably make a pretty decent gratin with it also
take the kale and coat it in a little olive oil and salt and spread it on a wire rack in a cookie sheet and cook at 250 for about 20 minutes to a half an hour until it gets super crispy, very nice, like a potato chip but with that bitter kale back end, makes a fun snack or topper when you need a little crispy something…
By Jo Ann
May 11, 2009 10:11 AM | Link to this | Report comment abuse
Chris, Super idea—I don’t dare say “souper.” And what an interesting treatment for kale!