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Books
About Greens
Greens
Glorious Greens!
By Johnna Albi and Catherine Walthers
RECIPE: Shredded Beets and Greens with Sliced Oranges
BOOK REVIEW
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Greens Cookbook
by Deborah Madison
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Fields of Greens : New Vegetarian Recipes from the Celebrated
Greens Restaurant
by Annie Somerville
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Three Ways to Cook Greens
in Under 10 Minutes
Hot Wilted Greens
Mess
o’ Greens Salad
With Warm Pecan Dressing
Pasta
with Dark
Greens
The old
school of Southern greens cookery
called for simmering them to death. The new school of
thought is that colored kales, chards, beet greens and
the like are too pretty to treat like that. Tender young
greens can be cooked in a matter of minutes. Quicker yet,
wilt the greens with a hot dressing that keeps largely
intact the strikingly attractive greens in the trendy
braising, or sauté, mixes that salad mix growers sell at
farmers markets.
Andrea Crawford,
of Kenter Canyon Farm in the San Fernando Valley, has
this simple suggestion for those who buy the sauté mix
she sells at farmers markets: sauté five cloves of
garlic in olive oil until they soften; turn the heat way
up and throw in the braising mix until it wilts; squirt
on some red wine vinegar until it disappears; serve over
pasta.
| Sylvia Thompson, in a recipe for
Sicilian-style rapini published in The Kitchen
Garden Cookbook (Bantam, 1995), does essentially
the same thing but adds toasted pine nuts and raisins.
The recipe, which requires 10 minutes of cooking
time, also works with chard, spinach or any other tasty
green. |
The Kitchen
Garden Cookbook
By Sylvia Thompson
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Here are two other somewhat more
involved suggestions on ways to sauté greens in 10
minutes or less, and third recipe that, with the addition
of pasta, takes just a bit longer.
Countryside Farms, which runs a major
farm stand near Stockton, recommends the following
recipe.
Hot Wilted Greens
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1 thick slice smoky bacon
½ T olive oil
1 large clove garlic, minced
1 medium sweet red onion
3 T chicken stock
2 T balsamic vinegar
1 quart mixed piquant leafy greens (such
as arugula, endive or mustard greens)
¼ cup toasted pecans
1. In a
large, deep skillet or wok over medium heat, cook
bacon until crispy. Remove and drain on paper
towels. Crumble and reserve. Add olive oil to
bacon drippings in skillet, heat and add garlic
and onions.
2. Sauté for 3-4 minutes, until onions and garlic
are softened. Stir in chicken stock and vinegar.
3. Add greens and mix.
Stir-fry for 2-3 minutes, until leaves are
coated. Cover and cook several minutes more,
until leaves are wilted and cooked tender-crisp.
4. Top with bacon and
chopped pecans. Serve hot. Serves 4.
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A different tradition of quick-cooked
spring greens has been passed down through the
generations in the family of a black South Carolinian
novelist, farmer and farm stand operator named Dori
Sanders. She traces many of her family’s culinary
traditions to her Aunt Vestula, who died when Dori was a
young girl.
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Dori Sanders’
Country Cooking
By Dori Sanders
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Aunt Vestula, a link to a bygone era of
southern history, worked around the turn of the century
in the kitchen of a plantation near Charleston. Part of
her pay was bringing home leftovers. In Dori
Sanders’ Country Cooking (Algonquin Books of
Chapel Hill, N.C., 1995), Sanders describes a springtime
tradition of foraging in the fields for wild greens, many
of which are available in cultivated form in Southern
California farmers markets. She mentions what Carolinians
call creasie greens (field cress that is a wild relative
of water cress), pokeweed and dandelion greens. |
Pokeweed tastes like beet leaves but
with a stronger flavor, she writes. If you'd like to try them at home,
some further research would be in order. Mature pokeweed leaves are
poisonous, so this plant must be picked when it is very young. And
by some accounts, even the young leaves should be boiled for five
minutes, several times, in fresh water each time.
The recipe below calls for the sorts of greens commonly available
in grocery stores and farmers markets.
Mess
o’ Greens Salad
With Warm Pecan Dressing
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6 cups fresh mustard,
turnip, and/or collard greens (about 1
pound)
6 cups fresh mustard, turnip, and/or
collard greens (about 1 pound)
2 T balsamic vinegar
2 tsp. honey
1 T Dijon mustard
2 tsp. vegetable oil
½ cup pecans, roughly chopped or broken
1. Wash
greens well, dry thoroughly, then remove and
discard the long stems. Tear the greens into
salad-size pieces and place in a large bowl.
2. In a small bowl, combine the
vinegar, honey and mustard. Set aside.
3. Heat the oil in a small
skillet until hot but not smoking. Add the
vinegar mixture and pecans and cook, stirring
regularly, for 2 to 3 minutes. Pour over the
greens and serve at once.
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People in Mediterranean cultures,
who have been big fans of bitter greens, such as
dandelion and chicory, for centuries, boil them as a
matter of course. Authorities on Italian cuisine
recommend cutting the greens crosswise into 1-inch pieces
before plunging them into the salted, boiling water. Then
wring out the excess water, chop them up, and proceed
with the desired recipe.
Cookbook author Diane Seed, in The Top One Hundred Italian Dishes (Ten Speed
Press), suggests tossing dandelion greens or rapini with
a chunky-shaped pasta, like penne, orechiette or ziti.
Seed, who teaches cooking classes in
south Italy, suggests cooking the pasta in the same water
used to boil the greens, which not only adds flavor to
the pasta, but saves time, to boot.
She favors turnip greens in the
following recipe, but broccoli raab (rapini), mustard or
dandelion greens work just as well.
For the best flavor, use a strong,
fruity extra-virgin olive oil. Serve with a loaf of
thick-crusted, whole-grain bread.
Pasta
with Dark
Greens
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2 pounds broccoli raab,
turnip,
mustard or dandelion greens
Kosher salt
1 pound orechiette, penne or other pasta
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic, chopped
4 anchovy filets in oil, drained and
finely chopped
Pinch dried red pepper flakes, or to
taste
Freshly ground pepper and salt
1 In a large pot, bring 2
to 3 quarts of water to a boil.
2. While the water heats,
trim the greens and wash them well. Cut
the greens crosswise into 1-inch pieces
or strips.
3. When the water
comes to a boil, add 1 tablespoon of
salt. Toss the greens into the boiling
water; cook until they are almost tender
but still bright green, 8 to 10 minutes.
(The time will vary somewhat depending on
what kind of greens you use. Testing them
is the best way to know when they are
done.) With a slotted spoon, remove
greens from the pot and toss into a large
bowl of cold water.
4. Add the pasta to
the pot of water in which the greens were
cooked. While the pasta cooks, squeeze
the greens to remove as much water as
possible. Fluff the greens to separate
them, then set aside.
5. In a large,
heavy skillet or a wok, heat the olive
oil over medium-high heat. Add the garlic
and cook, stirring constantly with a
wooden spoon, just until the garlic
begins to color. (Take care not to let it
burn or the dish will taste bitter.) Add
the anchovies, pressing them so they
"melt" into the oil. Add the
pepper flakes. When the pasta is almost
done, 10 to 12 minutes, add the drained
greens to the pan and cook together for 2
minutes, stirring constantly. Remove pan
from the heat.
6. Drain the pasta,
leaving a bit of water clinging to it.
Add the pasta to the cooked greens; toss
well. Season to taste with pepper and
salt. Serve immediately with a loaf of
the thick-crusted, whole-grain bread.
Makes 4 to 6 servings.
Note: If you
prefer, the greens can be cooked ahead
and held up to 8 hours. (Refrigerate them
if it will be more than two hours, then
bring them back to room temperature
before using.) You won't get to reuse the
cooking water from the pasta, but you
will be able to put the finished dish on
the table in just minutes.
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