PDA

View Full Version : What to do with lots of greens (recipe and review)



gertdog
06-25-2003, 07:21 AM
For those of you who are getting TONS of greens from your CSA farms- or if you just love your greens... :)

We have been getting lots and lots of mustard greens from the CSA. This week it was about 3 pounds! I don't think I've ever prepared mustard greens before so I've been scanning cookbooks for ideas.

Last night we made this recipe from Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. I used ALL of the mustard greens- giant red mustard and and a big bag of baby mustard greens. I'm still amazed at how they cook down! It was easy and very, very good- like a vegetable hash. I can see varying the recipe to include other vegetables, too. I don't know if it was intended to be a side dish or a main dish, but we called it dinner! My notes/changes are at the end of the recipe.

Greens with Potatoes
(serves 4)

4 boiling or Yellow Finn potatoes, about 1 pound
Salt
1 to 2 pounds of greens, trimmed and coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
1 large garlic clove, thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 tomatoes, peeled and diced

Cover the potatoes with cold water, add salt to taste, and bring to a boil. Cook until tender, about 25 minutes. Drain, then peel and coarsely chop. Place a quart of water in a large stockpot or skillet and bring to a boil. Add the greens and a teaspoon of salt, then simmer until tender, 5-20 minutes (the flavor of the greens will mellow with longer cooking). Remove from pan and drain. Return the pan to the heat, add the oil, and heat with the garlic and pepper flakes. When you can smell the garlic, add the greens, potatoes, and tomatoes. Cook over medium heat, breaking up the potatoes and mashing them into the greens to make a kind of rough hash. Taste for salt and serve with olive oil drizzled over the top.

My notes: I didn't bother peeling the tomatoes or the potatoes. I chopped the greens after cooking- much easier to handle that way. I used 2 garlic cloves and added a squeeze of lemon at the end of cooking. Served topped with grated parmesan cheese.

Kristine
06-25-2003, 08:01 AM
Yum - that sounds delicious. I would never have thought to combine greens and potatoes like that, but I think I'll have to give this a try next time I am overwhelmed by greens. :)

Thanks for the recipe!

lorilei
06-25-2003, 11:09 AM
Hey, Stephanie! That recipe looks awesome -- and it reminds me of a recipe I made from VEGETARIAN TIMES COOKS MEDITERRANEAN... made with beet greens, potatoes and olives. Also very yummy!

Am eager to try this version (with mustard greens) and see how they compare!

gertdog
06-25-2003, 12:34 PM
Oooh, I was thinking that some chopped kalamata olives and some feta instead of parmesan would be good in this dish. :) Yum!! And now I know what to do with beet greens if we get some of those from the CSA. I've done lots of cooking with spinach, chard, and kale, but some of these other greens are new to me.

Lori, I didn't know that there was a VT Mediterranean book- is it part of the Low-Fat and Fast series, or is it separate?

emily
05-28-2004, 11:52 AM
Yum! Thanks so much for posting this, Stephanie! I was looking for something to do with my plethora of CSA greens this week and I used most of them making this for breakfast this morning :)

This is a great variation of your typical meaty hash. I served it with a sunny side egg on top and it was great. A little too time (and pan) intensive for a weekday meal, but I think it would make a great brunch item.

Oh, and I just sauteed my greens (radish, beet and some orach) in olive oil while the potatoes were boiling. After they were mostly wilted, I added a little potato water to the pan and covered over low heat. When the potatoes were nearly done I removed the cover, pushed the greens to the side, added a touch more olive oil, the garlic and crushed red pepper and then mashed in the potatoes as directed. I left out the tomatoes and parmesan and instead added the egg on top. I think this would also be great with a slice of cheese melted on top (crisped under the broiler). The variations seem endless! Thanks again :)

Emily

gertdog
05-28-2004, 12:34 PM
Hey, I'm glad you enjoyed it! :) We'll receive our first CSA share next Thursday, and they have promised us lots and lots of greens, so I'll look forward to making this often for the next month or so.

So Emily, did you like the orach?

Anne
06-01-2004, 09:49 AM
I am working my way through the last of the frozen vegetables from last year's garden and came up with the following. Saute 4 tbs ginger, 2 tbs garlic, and 1/2 cup green onion. Mix 1 tbs red curry base with one can lite coconut milk. Heat two quarts greens, 1 quart cauliflower until just hot (these were blanched but not cooked before being frozen). Mix vegetables, ginger/garlic/onion, and curry/coconut milk and heat through. Yum! This makes a lot of vegetables since the greens are already compressed.