Recipes for cooked greens

Katxena
MyFolia Supporter
7 gardens

Do you have any great recipes for cooked greens?


I have just one, and it’s pretty common. For greens that are somewhat bitter, like strong mustards or collards, I wash and chop them, then heat a non-stick skillet over medium heat and dump all the damp leaves in. I cook them until they start to wilt, then I add a handful of raisins and a bit of salt. I cook them until they are the consistency I want then taste them – if they are still too bitter, I add a dash of balsamic vinegar, otherwise I add a dash of champagne or rice wine vinegar.


This is the only way my husband will eat what I call the “big greens” like mature mustard, collards or kale.

Posted about 9 months ago
 
jolantru
4 gardens

I normally stir-fry my greens or sautee them with garlic and butter. :)

For bitter ones, I use balsamic vinegar.

Posted about 9 months ago
 
nax
nax
MyFolia Supporter
14 gardens

I had quiche with swiss chard at a neighborhood cafe a few weeks ago. It’s one of the reasons I decided to put swiss chard in. Greens like those— swiss chard, spinach, turnip or beet greens, etc.— can go into all kinds of baked dishes, I would think. Casseroles, lasagna, quiche, what else? I also throw them into stews to bulk them up if I’ve got them. Does anyone use carrot greens? Can you?

Posted about 9 months ago
 
jolantru
4 gardens

I think you can use carrot greens. :)

Posted about 9 months ago
 
Katxena
MyFolia Supporter
7 gardens

I put carrot greens in salads.

Posted about 9 months ago
 
Annet
MyFolia Supporter
9 gardens

Oohhh – I’ve been giving to my friend Harriet, to feed her rabbits, but if I can put them in a salad…. ;) Are they any good?

Posted about 9 months ago
 
Katxena
MyFolia Supporter
7 gardens

Annet, I’m honestly not sure. When I make salad, it tends to be a crazy assortment of many different greens. I just add a handful of carrot greens to it. On their own, they don’t have a lot of flavor, but at the moment I’m obsessed with eating a diverse number of greens, so into the salad they go!

Posted about 9 months ago
 
cmagnus
MyFolia Supporter
13 gardens

I find that carrot greens are fairly bitter. Not bitter melon bitter, but beyond arugula bitter. A bit of them in salad or a lot of them in braised greens is nice.

Posted about 9 months ago
 
candigrrl6514
1 gardens

This year was the first year we participated in our local CSA, and I knew going into it that I was going to have to get creative with the harvests to make sure none of it got wasted. That said, I have picky eaters in my house…so most vegetables have to be hidden in their favorite dishes.

Surprisingly, I’ve totally come to rely on swiss chard, kale, and spinach to deliver nutrients in my undercover hidden veggie missions. I remove the stalks, wash the leaves, steam them, and then puree them in a food processor. I keep the resulting green goop in the fridge and use it in tomato sauce, brown gravy, burgers, meatballs, and meatloaf: ) It gives all the ground meat meals a very rich, full flavor, and makes them juicer, too. My husband requests it in his burgers now: )

I am not a picky eater- just a vegetarian: )- and I like the greens I mentioned above sauteed with garlic, onions, peppers, and egg whites (I’m a vegetarian with high cholesterol: (), with a few pecans or pinenuts thrown in for texture, drizzled with melted lowfat cream cheese to even out any bitterness. Mozzarella does a good job, too, but I use less cream cheese, which means less calories and cholesterol, ect.: )

I also want to say Thanks for the Carrot greens comments! I was up to my armpits one day in CSA carrots and their greens, and asked a friend of a friend who happened to be in my kitchen when I was cooking, if I could use the greens for anything. She’s an organic foodie, so I trusted her when she said they are poisonous! How my heart aches at the thought of all the greens I wasted that day: ( After that, I stopped choosing carrots from my CSA choices, so I haven’t wasted any since!)

Upon reading your comment, Katxena, I was prompted to wiki (!I heart wikipedia!) the matter, and was ecstatic to find that carrot greens are considered leaf vegetables, like kale and spinach, ect. And I got really into the carrot data; I’m definitely going to try out some Nante carrots in my garden next season: )

Posted about 9 months ago
 
nax
nax
MyFolia Supporter
14 gardens

Sounds like carrot greens probably would make a good roux or broth (come to think of it I do dump carrot greens into my veggie broths. Good thing I never heard about the poison thing!) Which reminds me that I just made a tomato bisque last night with 5 bag-ripened tomatoes, and I used broth made with leeks greens. (Yes. It was yummy! candigrrrl once the kids leave you can eat things like tomato bisque again! No disguises necessary, lol.)

Posted about 9 months ago
 
rockabella9
MyFolia Supporter
4 gardens

I stir-fry greens Chinese style. I usually fry the minced garlic (sometimes ginger or minced chilli too) in some oil till fragrant, add mushrooms (usually shitake) or sliced meat (usually pork or chicken) or dried shrimp and fry a bit more, then add the leaves and mix them around till wilted. I then add light soy sauce (for the lighter greens like pak choy and pea sprouts) or dark soy sauce (for the darker greens like kang kong) and/or oyster sauce (which I think goes with everything). Sometimes I add Chinese rice wine if I have it. Finally I sprinkle sesame seed oil over the dish.

Posted about 9 months ago
 
Annet
MyFolia Supporter
9 gardens

Rockabella – I love that type of stir-fry! I usually fry the meat first and then add the garlic (and ginger & chili), because I don’t want the garlic to burn or become too brown.

Does anyone have any alternative (Asian) stir-fry recipes, because I would like to see if I can get some different flavors into it.

Posted about 9 months ago
 
cmagnus
MyFolia Supporter
13 gardens

I don’t stir fry with recipes. A good rule of thumb is you can stir fry whatever seasoning combination you think would be interesting with whatever vegetable/protein combo you like. I usually put the spices in the oil a few minutes alone first to make them stronger. Then add whatever I want to flavor it with. My wok is small, so usually I do things one at a time and set them aside and mix them together at the end. If your seasonings don’t taste quite right, adding a tiny pinch of brown sugar will help them blend. That would be when I’d wilt in the greens or add something like egg to bind it together. For two people that’s too much for stir frying, but I can still add heat to the wok.

Posted about 9 months ago
 
rockabella9
MyFolia Supporter
4 gardens

Hey Annet, in Southeast Asia, it is pretty common to use certain spicy pastes in stir fries, like sambal belacan (fermented shrimp paste) and assam paste (made with tamarind). Don’t know if you can get the in the Netherlands, but they make the dishes crazy good, but also very spicy. Kang kong in sambal belacan is very popular in Southeast Asia. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like it. I agree with cmagnus that generally you start by making the oil fragrant first, by frying the spices and pastes. To make a sticky sauce, you could add broth to wilt the greens, then add corn starch solution (about 1 tablespoon cornflour dissolved in a couple of tablespoons of cool water).

Posted about 9 months ago
 
Katxena
MyFolia Supporter
7 gardens

Wow, those pastes sound very interesting – I’m going to look for some around here.

Posted about 9 months ago
 
nax
nax
MyFolia Supporter
14 gardens

Katxena, if you don’t have an actual Asian market, the World Market chain carries those pastes. I could never get them to taste quite right from scratch (having come late to Asian cooking, through marriage rather than blood), and these are pretty authentic.

Posted about 9 months ago
 
jolantru
4 gardens

Sweet potato leaves in sambal belacan is wicked too. :)

Also instead of light or dark soy sauce, you can use sesame seed oil or oyster sauce for flavoring.

Posted about 9 months ago
 
verthandei
MyFolia Supporter
5 gardens

Hooray for Cost Plus World Market! They carry Thai Kitchen brand curry pastes and I really like the red curry paste for curries (but the green curry paste not so much). Which, of course, has nothing to do with stirfries or cooked greens. :)

Posted about 9 months ago
 
Annet
MyFolia Supporter
9 gardens

Thanks for those suggestions. I can probably get those spice pastes at one of our Asian markets. They carry lots of Indonesian and Indonesian-Chinese products because of our post-colonial link to Indonesia, so plenty of different sambals there!
Stock also sounds very interesting, I’ve been making and freezing stock these last couple of months, so I can defintely use that for stir-fries!

Posted about 9 months ago
 
Katxena
MyFolia Supporter
7 gardens

Does anyone have a recipe (or method or formula or whatever) for some kind of soup that has greens in it?

Posted about 9 months ago
 
verthandei
MyFolia Supporter
5 gardens

Hey Kat, see this post! I used arugula (rocket) but you could use any pot greens I think.

Posted about 9 months ago
 
Katxena
MyFolia Supporter
7 gardens

Oooo! Thanks V, that looks awesome!

Posted about 9 months ago
 
cmagnus
MyFolia Supporter
13 gardens

You can either throw them in at the last minute or let them ook along with everything else, depending on what texture you want. I don’t really do recipes. But greens are nice in borscht (broth + beets + dill + greens + sour cream). They’re nice added to plain vanilla stew (broth + protein + chopped veggies + greens). You can add them to eggdrop soup (broth + egg stirred in, followed by wilted greens). Sometimes I cut them into ribbons and substitute them for seaweed in miso soup (broth + miso + green onion + tofu + greens). You could add them to a ramen style soup (noodle + broth + greens). I don’t know if that’s helpful for ideas or not…

Posted about 9 months ago
 
verthandei
MyFolia Supporter
5 gardens

Only thing is, some greens can impart a good deal of bitterness to the broth if cooked directly in the final soup. I think escarole might be the worst offender, but personally I think arugula is pretty bitter too. Not everyone might think so. All depends if you like/can tolerate the taste. If you find the greens too bitter in the dish, try cooking them separately and add before serving, which will cut down on the bitterness but still give you taste and a fair amount of nutrients.

Posted about 9 months ago
 
verthandei
MyFolia Supporter
5 gardens

Ooh, I just had a thought. You know how ridiculously delicious spinach dip is? Personally I don’t think it tastes all that spinachy (more like all the rest of the stuff in it). I bet you could use cooked (and cooled) greens of any kind to make variations on this delicious classic… My favorite uses yogurt, cream cheese, sour cream and feta, plus a fair amount of garlic and dill, for an unbeatable spread or dip for bread…

Here it is here. It’s a Cooking Light recipe, but I don’t use fat-free or low-fat anything (so sue me) and I double or triple the garlic.

Yum yum yum yum yum….

Posted about 9 months ago
 
Annet
MyFolia Supporter
9 gardens

Thinking of dips, you could probably turn your greens into a pesto. I’ve used rocket to make pesto, maybe other greens would work as well?

Verthandei – I don’t believe in fat-free or low-fat either. I’m all into real food :)

Posted about 9 months ago
 
jolantru
4 gardens

I actually use daun dewa leaves to mix with salsa. I think it is possible to use other greens too. That just gave me an idea: sweet potato leaves in a salsa or pesto.

Posted about 9 months ago
 
verthandei
MyFolia Supporter
5 gardens

I’m back to report that I made the spinach dip with arugula leaves instead of spinach and it was still delicious.

And Katxena, this is a kale recipe just for you:

Melange of Kale, Potatoes, and Tomatoes with Parmesan#

Ok, I admit it, I am a big Cooking Light fan. Their recipes give me a great starting point. Anyway, I like the combination of kale, potato and tomato (plus cheese). Of course I use extra garlic. :) Also be careful not to cook the potatoes too soft or they will turn to mush when you mix it all together – it still tastes good but looks less than appealing. Come to think of it, it might be optimal to boil or steam them ahead of time (or cook extra for another dinner and save the leftovers), then cut them into small pieces and add them cold to the final dish and just heat through. Adding them still hot or warm increases the likelihood of potato smashage. Hmmm….

ETA:

I also meant to mention this recipe for boiled kale (it isn’t like it sounds), which is delicious with a fried egg on toast as described, and this mashed potato recipe that cleverly incorporates kale. :)

Posted about 8 months ago
 
nax
nax
MyFolia Supporter
14 gardens

Here’s another one, Katxena, if you’re willing to stretch a point and call parsley a green (although I think this would work with any green). Vegetarian Epicure site is great, if a little impenetrable, but follow your common sense and use the search options to come up with recipes.

Other stuff— I make what I call Greek hush puppies— potato balls mixed with feta and deep fried. You’d have to drain a lot of the moisture off, but it occurs to me that these would be fantasic with a strong-tasting sauteed green mixed in.

Update on the carrot-greens question— I tried some carrot greens in a tuna casserole earlier this week. Flavor great, texture not so much. I stripped the stems, then just boiled them and put them in the casserole as though it was spinach. I think it would be better to chop it quite fine and sautee it waaaaay down to really break down the texture. We had to pull them all out before we could eat it. However, the flavor is fantastic— they actually taste like carrots. I’ll try it again sometime, but I think the best use for these is broth.

Posted about 8 months ago
 
Katxena
MyFolia Supporter
7 gardens

Thanks V & nax! Verthandei, your link didn’t work – the recipe sounds great, do you think you can repost it? I’m a huge fan of cooking light too. I usually double the garlic and other seasonings (except for hot peppers, I have half those because my husband doesn’t like hot foods), but in my experience, cooking light recipes are always at least fine, and often quite good.

Thanks for the hookup to the Vegetarian Epicurian site nax. I can tell I’ll be exploring it carefully.

I tried a great recipe from The Six O’Clock Scramble website, for greens and frozen gnocchi. You prepare the gnocchi according to the package directions, then saute greens with garlic in oil for about 2 minutes, then steam them for 5-8 minutes, depending on what greens you are using. Then you add a can of lightly drained diced tomatoes to the greens and stir and cook until the tomatoes are warm. Ad the gnocchi to the greens & tomatoes and stir. Serve topped with grated Parmesan.

I added oregano and red pepper to the garlic, and grated black pepper over the dish before adding the parm. It was really good.

Posted about 8 months ago
 
Annet
MyFolia Supporter
9 gardens

Hmm…sounds good! When you say ‘steam them for 5-8 minutes’, do you actually transfer the sauteed greens + garlic to a steamer or do you just cover the pan and turn the heat down?

Posted about 8 months ago
 
Katxena
MyFolia Supporter
7 gardens

Good question Annet — I mean to cover the sauteed greens & garlic and turn the heat down. Add a bit of broth or water if necessary, but if you left the greens wet after cleaning them, they shouldn’t need any additional liquid.

Posted about 8 months ago
 
redloon
MyFolia Supporter
7 gardens

I usually prepare kale in a very simple way (with 2 variations):

Remove and discard kale stems/ribs, then tear leaves into pieces and rinse. Transfer the pile of wet kale leaf pieces to a pot and cook gently, while stirring, until wilted (a couple of minutes). Transfer the kale back to the colander. Chop several cloves of garlic – I’m a big fan of garlic! Saute the garlic in olive oil, return the kale to the pot, and stir just until coated and warm. This is my favorite method when the kale is very fresh and tasty (sometimes I’ll just munch on the wilted kale without anything else on it as finger food), and it also works great with fresh spinach or collards.

If I’ve bought a bunch of kale from a grocery store and it isn’t all that amazing (or if I’m cooking chard – which has a less appealing flavor to me than kale), I add a splash of sesame oil + some sesame seeds to the mix.

Very quick and simple, and one of my all-time favorite dishes… :)

Posted about 8 months ago
 
Katxena
MyFolia Supporter
7 gardens

Thanks redloon. Those are good ideas. Why do you start with the kale instead of the garlic? Is this to prevent the garlic from browning too much? Or is it so the kale cooks mostly in water and is “dressed” with the oil and garlic at the end?

I’ve always started with garlic and oil first. I’m wondering if starting the kale alone first improves its texture or taste.

Posted about 8 months ago
 
redloon
MyFolia Supporter
7 gardens

Katxena – You’re welcome! :) I’ve tried starting with the olive oil and garlic and then adding the raw kale and letting it wilt in the oil/garlic, but the dish doesn’t turn out as well that way. I think that your second statement expresses the reason well: when the kale is cooked in water instead of being cooked in the oil/garlic it tastes lighter, fresher and more flavorful to me.

Posted about 8 months ago
 
verthandei
MyFolia Supporter
5 gardens

Hm, I can’t get the link to work either. Anyway, cut and paste this to get to the kale, potatoes, and tomatoes recipe!

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=223118#

The link still doesn’t work. But cutting and pasting does. :)

Posted about 8 months ago
 
Katxena
MyFolia Supporter
7 gardens

Cutting & pasting worked for me! Thanks V!

Posted about 8 months ago
 
Katxena
MyFolia Supporter
7 gardens

Last night, I cooked kale redloon’s way, by cooking the kale first, removing it from the pan, then cooking garlic and red pepper in oil and then adding the kale back. It worked great, thank you!

Posted about 8 months ago
 
glittertrash
MyFolia Supporter
7 gardens
Australia

I’ve been cooking my silverbeet/chard this way recently, which I adapted from the filling of spanakopita (Greek spinach pie):

Brown pine nuts, pop them aside on a plate.
Sautee crushed garlic, add finely-sliced stems of chard, give the two of them a couple of minutes. Then add the rest of the finely-shredded chard leaves and let them wilt. Add about a tablespoon of finely shredded fresh MINT & DILL leaves right at the end when it’s about done, take off heat, stir through pine nuts. Serve with a little bit of feta cheese crumbled over the top.

I’ve been eating this on toast for breakfast and it’s fab- really fresh flavours.

If you make a bunch of it, and add a good whack of ricotta & feta cheese & mix it all together & bake it in filo pastry, you have Greek spinach pie.

Posted about 8 months ago
 
Katxena
MyFolia Supporter
7 gardens

glittertrash, I am so in love with greens for breakfast. My fav right now is sauted swiss chard with onions and garlic, on toast with a fried egg on the top. I want to try the boiled kale recipe Verthandei linked to up thread.

The pine nuts sound yummy.

Posted about 8 months ago
 
Katxena
MyFolia Supporter
7 gardens

Last night, I made a baked artichoke pasta. It’s basically artichoke dip with penne pasta tossed in, then baked for 30 minutes like mac & cheese. It was very good, but was too salty, I suspect due to all the canned artichoke hearts. I don’t see why one couldn’t do the same thing with spinach dip — mix up the dip (using, as Verthandei suggested above, any potherb), chuck in some penne, sprinkle panko on top, then bake. I’m going to try that next week (pasta night only comes once a week at my house). I’ll let you all know what happens.

Posted about 8 months ago
 
cmagnus
MyFolia Supporter
13 gardens

Last night I made soup with onions, kale, broth, potato, greens, and sausage. The greens were kale, chervil, dill, and cilantro. It was way better than using just kale.

Posted about 8 months ago
 
Katxena
MyFolia Supporter
7 gardens

That sounds awesome cmagnus!

Posted about 8 months ago
 

Add to the conversation!

You'll need to sign up for a free account first (it only takes a second, promise!) or log in if you're already a member.

Hi there! You're reading a conversation in the Greens! group on Folia.

This is a group about plants grown mostly for their leaves. These are usually thought of as salad greens (eaten raw) and potherbs (eaten cooked), although the same plant can obviously be in both categories. Please contribute your garden experiences and future plans regarding the growing of greens, and any recipes you have for how to prepare them.

Other Recent Topics See more...

bee iconBuzz buzz buzz!

Planet Green logo

Folia provides a user-friendly dashboard tool to help users know what plants are being sown and harvested, as well as weather forecasts, seed organizing, and photo organizing so that your garden can grow at its best.

More buzz about us...

Grape icon Listen in on the Grapevine

Folia Badges and Widgets

Want some super cool badges to stick on your blog? What about a funky widget that shows everyone what you are growing? Sounds like you need to get over to our Goodies page pronto!

Blog | About Us | Help us grow! | Contact Us | Terms | Tour | Goodies | Help! | Accessibility statement