It probably comes as no surprise that, here at Greener Partners, we love eating our greens! Lucky for us, spring is one of the best times for these delicious foods. Many of them we look forward to each spring as comforting stand-bys, but occasionally we're excited by an unfamiliar green to bring home and test out in our kitchens.
Knowing that new foods can sometimes be intimidating, Fair Food Farmstand co-manager Ruth Holbrook compiled a "Greens Primer" in the farmstand's recent newsletter and was kind enough to share it with us here. Knowing White Dog Community Enterprises and the Fair Food Farmstand to be trusted sources of information on local food, we're excited to publish the list here. So enjoy her introduction to some of the unfamiliar, but no less tasty and nutritious, spring greens!
SPRING GREENS PRIMER:
Tatsoi: Beautiful little dark-green rosettes of spoon-shaped leaves, which have a mildly spicy flavor. They can be chopped whole into salads or thrown into a stir-fry.
Bok Choy: Urn-shaped cabbage relative with flavorful light green leaves and crisp juicy stalks. Wonderful stir-fried at any stage of development, they are particularly tasty in their “baby” stage, lightly sautéed whole.
Tokyo Bekana: Extremely delicate Japanese version of Chinese cabbage with bright chartreuse leaves, juicy white stalks, and a subtle but delicious flavor. Heads can be shredded raw into salad or sautéed very gently.
Stinging Nettles: An incredibly nutrient-dense wild green, nettles have a rich spinach-like flavor, and are wonderful cooked in soups, sauté’s, or infused into tea. Don’t be scared away by the name…though plants are covered in tiny stinging hairs, the compounds that sting are neutralized by heat and drying.
Watercress: Aquatic/semi-aquatic plant with a peppery bite and juicy crunch. Water cress makes an interesting addition to sandwiches, soups and salads.
Savoy Spinach: A “meaty” variety of spinach with curly, crinkled leaves and almost nutty flavor. Savoy spinach makes a tasty and substantial addition to salads and loses less volume when cooked than flat-leaf spinach. Be aware that the sugar is in the stems, so don’t trim them too much.
Mustard Greens: As the name implies, these wrinkled greens come from the same plant whose seeds are used to make the condiment mustard. Their lively flavor is used widely in southern cooking, as well as Chinese and Japanese dishes. The baby greens can be added sparingly to salads while more developed leaves are best cooked alongside other strong flavors
Mizuna: A Japanese variety of mustard green with delicate feathery leaves and a subtly peppery flavor. Mizuna is delicious raw in salads with a citrus or sesame oil flavored dressing, or added to a stir-fry with other “Asian greens”. See the spikey mizuna leaves in the photo at right.
Arugula: Also called Rocket, this green has a unique aromatic tang that is hard to describe. Most widely eaten raw in salads or as a garnish, arugula also makes a tasty pesto or can be lightly sautéed (though heat mellows the flavor considerably).
Sorrel: Often considered an herb, sorrel earns a place in this list for the lovely lemony tartness it bestows on other spring greens. It can be sprinkled on salads, used as a green in spring tonics and soups, or baked into luscious custards.
