For Good Health: Eat Your Greens!
by Kalyn Denny

Collard Greens
Since we're talking about good health around here for the month of January, I'm trying to help everyone think about about what you might be cooking. So far I've shared yummy ways to cook sweet potatoes, dried beans, and cabbage, and today the focus is on greens. I've been talking a lot about the world's healthiest foods, one of my favorite sites, and every type of green leafy vegetable you can possibly imagine is on their list. If your experience with greens has been mostly lettuce or spinach, give some of these other greens a try.

Arugula
Arugula is a type of slightly bitter green that is eaten raw or cooked, and is also called rocket, roquette, rugula, and rucola. It's popular in Italian cuisine but is becoming more and more mainsteam in the U.S.
Pasta with Tuna, Arugula, and Hot Pepper from Simply Recipes
Simple Arugula Salad from A Veggie Venture
Arugula Salad with Maytag Cheese, Pear, and Candied Walnuts from What Did You Eat
Arugula and Apple Salad from 80 Breakfasts
Fontina and Arugula Frittata from Superspark

Chard
Chard is a green that's a joy for the home gardener because it will keep producing all summer. It's also commonly called Swiss Chard or Silverbeet, and comes in several colors. Chard has a slightly bitter flavor, but it's much milder in taste than many other greens.
How to Grow Your Own Swiss Chard and Why You Should from In My Kitchen Garden
Hot Swiss Chard Artichoke Dip from Farmgirl Fare
Swiss Chard Au Gratin from Exploring the Silver Spoon
How to Cook Swiss Chard from Beyond Salmon
Swiss Chard with Garlic Mustard Vinaigrette from Gluten-a-Go-Go
Spicy Swiss Chard from Sassy Radish

Collards
Collard Greens are very flavorful and slightly sweet-tasting compared to other greens. They're also called Borekale, and are eaten in many parts of the world, often combined with other greens in a dish simply called "greens."
Easy Vegetarian Collard Greens from Gluten-Free Bay (that's her photo of Collard Greens above)
Collard Greens and White Bean Soup from Fat Free Vegan Kitchen
Regina Schrambling's Collard Squares from The Wednesday Chef
Spicy Pork with Collard Greens from An Italian in the U.S.
Middle Eastern Greens Soup from Cooking from A to Z

Kale
According to the world's healthiest foods site, Kale is more nutritious per calorie than almost any other food, so it's perfect for the dieting month of January. Kale is a member of the Brassica family that includes cabbage, collards, and brussels sprouts.
Kale and Olive Oil Mashed Potatoes from 101 Cookbooks
Frittata with Tuscan Kale from Lucullian Delights
Chickpeas with Merguez and Kale from Cookthink
Dinosaur Kale and Jalapeno Soup from Albion Cooks
Why Kale? from Dani Spies

What's your favorite type of greens? If you have a good recipe for cooking greens, please leave the recipe or a link in the comments.

Blogher food editor Kalyn Denny also blogs at Kalyn's Kitchen, where she cooks arugula, chard, and collard greens, and is vowing to try kale.

Submitted by Kalyn Denny (view blog) on Sun, 01/13/2008 - 19:40

Comments

 

Escarole!

Right now I am in the middle of a big escarole kick. Escarole as salad, as greens in soup, or stirfry.

Love the escarole. And argula. And mache. And kale if I can't find escarole at the market.

;o)

****

Black Phoebe :: Ms. Jen
Barflies.net
Around Ireland

Submitted by msjen on Sun, 01/13/2008 - 23:42
 

You are so right!

I can't believe I missed escarole! And I have some in my fridge right now.

Kalyn Denny
Kalyn's Kitchen

Submitted by Kalyn Denny on Mon, 01/14/2008 - 08:07
 

Yay, Kalyn. I'm saving this one. : )

I love arugula and pear salad...and I've eaten kale since I was a kid. My grandfather stewed it within an inch of its life. ; ) I need to try some of these recipes and I'm going to pass them on to my mom and my sister.

Laurie
LaurieWrites

Submitted by lauriewrites on Mon, 01/14/2008 - 00:22
 

Thanks Laurie

Arugula and pear salad sounds fantastic. So glad you'll be sharing the recipes.

Kalyn Denny
Kalyn's Kitchen

Submitted by Kalyn Denny on Mon, 01/14/2008 - 08:08
 

Go Green!

Right now I am living in China and I have eaten more green things here in three years than in my entire life! I just wish I knew the English name for many of them because I will really miss them when we move back to the states. The preparation is very simple for most... lightly stir fried with garlic and maybe a little oyster or soy sauce.
My favorite's are Morning Glory which is found in most Thai Restaurants, any kind of Qing Tai (a name they use for many different kinds of greens) and Kale.
My daughter (age 7) LOVES the young kale in oyster sauce and my son (13) can easily put away two plates of the morning glory with garlic.
Good article and good idea! Go Green in many different ways this year!

Submitted by hundadaweigouren on Mon, 01/14/2008 - 03:06
 

How fun to hear about greens in China!

That's so interesting. I went to China but only ate in restaurants, and the one green thing I remember is Chinese broccoli (very different, but I don't know what it's called here.) I wonder if morning glory is a relative to the plant we have here. I have heard of a type of Asian green called Tatsoi, but haven't tasted it.

Kalyn Denny
Kalyn's Kitchen

Submitted by Kalyn Denny on Mon, 01/14/2008 - 08:10
 

Swamp cabbage

I think tatsoi is bok choy which is also very yummy! I just did a search on morning glory veg and sometimes it is called swamp cabbage... which looking at the water sources around here....
I will have to stick to my other greens!
Broccoli here is an adventure. To get the vegetable that we call broccoli you have to ask for xi lan hua which means "western flower" (I am not certain I am spelling the pinyin correctly there). In many of the Chinese restaurants they label any green vegetable broccoli so it is always an adventure if you order it out and about.
When marketing I try to pick veggies that I have not tried yet and then have my Chinese helper show me how to cook them. Then I cook them using an 1/8 of the oil and salt!
With the influx of foreigners here I have recently come home with items that she does not recognize and she will tell me "not in China".
It is fun to be here with such a rapidly changing culture.
You should come back and see China now!

Submitted by hundadaweigouren on Mon, 01/14/2008 - 20:23
 

I want to go back

I really do want to go to China again. When I was there they were just planting the trees for a windbreak for the Beijing Olympics, but we didn't know that's what they were for and we kept wondering why they were planting so many trees so close together.

It sounds like you're having a wonderful adventure learning about Chinese foods and even having a Chinese helper to teach you how to cook them. How wonderful!

Kalyn Denny
Kalyn's Kitchen

Submitted by Kalyn Denny on Mon, 01/14/2008 - 23:17
 

When I was pregnant...

All i wanted to eat was collard greens and oranges. (With an occasional diversion to green papaya and dried shrimp salad.) I called my doctor in a panic because I was sure i was going to poison my unborn princess.... nope, he said, getting loads of folic acid!

interestingly enough, my daughter loves collards and kale and all those strong bitter greens that I love so much. Don't know if it was her in-utero experience, or the fact that we eat them all the time in the "real world."

Whole Foods (and PCC, if you're in Seattle) carries a really nice "braising greens" mix near all the salad greens. They are intended to be, well, braised, but they are baby collards and kales etc.... and are super flavorful and yummy and crunchy as salad. We use this almost exclusively (when we have to buy them.....)

One of the best things is that, unless you live in super harsh climates, you can grow these greens all year long...... And they're gorgeous. We plant them decoratively, but eat them.....

And baby bok-choy is the yummiest!!!!!!!!!!
___________
Alyssa Royse
JUST CAUSE
make some good news!
www.JustCauseIt.com

Submitted by alyssaroyse on Mon, 01/14/2008 - 20:45
 

Sigh, no Whole Foods Here yet . . .

How fun that your daughter learned to love her greens even before she was born! The idea of being able to buy a braising mix sounds great. Salt Lake is getting a Whole Foods, but I think it's about 2 years away still. Can't wait, it is going to be very close to my house.

I've been amazed since I started eating greens, really only in the last 2-3 years, how much I've come to love them too.

Kalyn Denny
Kalyn's Kitchen

Submitted by Kalyn Denny on Mon, 01/14/2008 - 23:21