Tips on Greens

• Use strong-tasting accompaniments
  Even the authors of a book entitled Greens Glorious Greens! have to admit: greens, by themselves, just don’t cut it. "Most greens need a little help, a little company, to taste good," write the authors, Johanna Albi and Catherine Walthers. In fact, greens need quite a lot of help. Dressings and accompaniments should be strong-tasting, such as vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, leeks, raisins, or olives; or crunchy, such as nuts or sesame seeds; or at least colorful, such as beets, radicchio or carrots.
  
• Eat the young ones raw
  All greens including the spiciest and bitterest --such as red mustard and dandelions -- are edible raw when they’re babies. Even in mature form, the mildest greens -- such as spinach and chard -- can still make do with minimal if any cooking. In contrast, the strongest greens at maturity may need to be cooked twice counting a blanching.
  
• Don't steam them
  Steaming and greens don’t mix, for reasons explained by Harold McGee in On Food and Cooking. An acid in the greens is activated by heat. Unless it is washed away, it destroys the chlorophyll, turning the greens a dingy gray.
  
• A better way of blanching
  Blanching is an age-old way to pretreat tough, spicy greens, which happens to minimize the problem with acid buildup in steamed greens. The trouble with blanching is that the procedure leaches out nutrients and besides, bringing a big pot of water to boil takes time. Hence Albi and Walthers recommend a compromise that they call "shallow blanching" -- pre-cooking in just 2 cups of water per pound of greens for three to 10 minutes.
  
• A surprising 'green cocktail'
  The concentrated broth left over after shallow blanching is concentrated enough to drink. "In cooking classes when we serve this ‘green cocktail,’ students are surprised at how good it tastes," Albi and Walthers write.
  
• Eat greens, live longer
  Greens are chock full of beta-carotene, with the darkest greens having the most. For supplying these presumed cancer-fighting antioxidants, vitamin supplements are no match for vegetables, according to the latest data. Scientists now know that other phytochemicals work in concert with beta-carotene. And some of these compounds haven’t even been identified yet. Many greens have a nutritional bonus: high levels of calcium.