Need Chard/mustardgreens/Kale Recipes

[cipher]

Okay, I am trying to add these to the diet around here, since they are the "dark, leafy greens" that contain so much in the way of nutrition.

I bought some red chard for dinner tonight, but haven't got a clue about what is the best way to cook them. I grew up eating lots of beet greens, steamed with butter, salt and pepper on them, and those are great that way, but they are really mild, and these other ones might need some extra flavor or something to make them taste good.

Anyone have a good recipe for these healthy dark greens? PLEASE!

 

[Gingergirl]

Sorry I missed your thread yesterday.

Chard is my favorite green. Sweet much like beet greens...related. I just cook it like spinach. Some people also steam the stems to eat like asparagus (though they still taste like chard) but you have to trim off a lot of the tougher ends.

I'll eat mustard only if the leaves are very young as I'm not that fond of the strong flavor of older leaves. However, I do chop the older leaves and add a handful or so to a pot of potato soup. Now that's good.

Young and tender kale is good. I prefer Vates over Red Russian. It is also very good in potato soup.

For a change of pace, I like to add a little minced and sauteed onion/galic/mushroom. On occasion I add some bacon bits. In the South, greens are served with vinegar.

All of these can be cooked just like your beet greens, and if VERY young, thrown into a tossed salad with your lettuce.

 

[Mushroom]

Swiss Chard is one of the greens I can grow and get the family to eat. I like to wash them and cut them into strips (stack them and cut a bunch at once). I steam them with just the water that clings to them. Stir or fluff with a fork to keep them from matting together. Steam till just tender and serve with a drizzle of vinegar. Great taste and good for you.

Mushroom

 

[blue gecko]

You can also use larger leaves of chard and kale for stuffing. Throw them in the freezer for a little while and they will wilt and soften then fill them with a mixture of say leftover rice, meat, onions, mushrooms, garlic and peppers. You can even add something like unconstituted mushroom soup for a little more sauce. Roll them up and put them in a baking dish, cover with more soup and bake for 45 minutes to an hour at 350 until they are bubbly. The same method works for tamale wrappers: spread with Masa and fill with seasoned meat and cheese then bake as above with red or green enchilada sauce topped with cheese. You can also add them to salads (highest nutritional value). Blended or finely chopped they make nice additions to soups. I also like them lightly steamed as Mushroom suggests. Cut a little larger you can stirfry them with other vegies and serve over rice. I've even used them diced as a layer in lasagna. If they are too strong as a pot herb you can change the water once after bring it to a boil. The larger stems can be eaten raw with dip along with other dip-able vegies. BG

 

[Beetree]

Mustards

UMMM, there is just something about those mustards. I dearly love mustard greens! They are tenderer than collards, and have a bite turnips can't touch. However when cooking mustards if you so much as dare to get them too hot it ruins them. They must be cooked tenderly as the bite will be ruined if they are overheated. You will hate them then. If you cook them right you will not only want to put the tasting spoon in them at the end but you will put your fist into them and grab a glob of them to stuff into your mouth. For they are that good. Then you will put your hand into the pot and get another glob of them and wind it and turn it and stuff it into your mouth if you cook them right! Oh mustards! I grow them and freeze them and love them. When I was growing up in Alabama, there was a man that worked near by. He was in his nineties (hmm how do you spell 90's?) He looked like he was thirty. Everyone always asked him how he could look so young! The paper did a article on him even. He said, "Well I just eat plenty of mustards and when I make love, I don't get up afterwards I just lay there." Don't ask me what that means. Weird! That was of course years ago. so it is surprizing that they even put that in the news. Anyway I always think of mustards as a plant that just makes everything alright. If I went for a year with out mustards I would feel like I was dying. It is like fish I love it and I gotta have it.

 

[cipher]

Ginger, Mushroom and Blue Gecko, thanks for the ideas and recipes. I actually made a vegetable dish that started with sauteed onions and celery, then threw in a couple carrots sliced, chunks of peeled acorn squash chunks, garlic, a teaspoon of tumeric, a dash of red pepper and a splash of sherry. When all the thicker stuff was mostly cooked through, I tossed the chard in, stirred and as soon as that was wilted and barely cooked, I put it on the plate with a pile of couscous. It was Yummy....

I will try the other greens. Beetree, how do you make those mustard greens? Steamed with butter?

I usually lightly steam beet greens, then onto the plate with butter, salt and pepper. DH likes vinegar on top.

Anyway, we are trying to eat those greens, and I have no doubt that those greens, coupled with good genes are why that old man looked so young. (I doubt just laying there after making love has anything to do with it. Just the fact that he can at that age shows he's in pretty good shape for his age.) I wonder how old his wife is?

 

[Beetree]

However when cooking mustards if you so much as dare to get them too hot it ruins them. They must be cooked tenderly as the bite will be ruined if they are overheated. You will hate them then.

 

[Beetree]

Cipher, Now that I have more time I will go into more detail about the cooking of the mustards. Not much to say really. I start out with frozen mustards (when do not have fresh) and just slow cook them on the stove. I advise getting fresh ones in season if possible. I usually cook them real slow for 3 hours or more. Every once in a while I will turn it up a little bit briefly. Then maybe just turn the stove off and put the lid on and let them sit for and hour then go back and take off the lid and cook real low again. I sometimes put a tblspoon of bacon grease in them. But if you have good mustards they need no seasonings. They are good with pork roast or chops, mashed pot. and gravy, and of course cornbread.

 

[cipher]

Wow, 3 hours on low? I would have never guessed. We can get fresh here anytime. They are just $1.29 a bunch. They don't have it in the freezer.

Thanks, Beetree. There's usually a container with bacon fat in it in the fridge here. It's the best thing to put in the pan to keep things from sticking.

 

[Beetree]

If you use the fresh ones, you have to add start up water. But not much, because of course the greens have a LOT of water in them. They really cook down. When I first start out the pot is crammed full (if using fresh picked)and then when they are done it is less than half full. When they are done they are very tender if you get good ones. If they never get tender they won't be good. If they are picked when young it is better because the older leaves are tough. Hope you get some good ones! If you start cooking them at lunch for dinner, then you can take your time and don't have to worry about them not being done in time for dinner. But remember if you get them too hot (boiling too fast instead of just real light not even simmer heat) just one time then they have a bitter taste. So be careful when using the controls. I mean you have to cook them so it does take heat but ..just experiment. If you start five or six hours ahead of time then you have time to experiment. It seems like every time I get them up to a certain temp. and I do not know how to tell you what that is..they get bitter. Good luck!