Greens - Collards/Turnip/Kale etc

[peoplething]

With our introduction to a CSA last summer I was introduced to greens.

And holy crap I love them.

I have a real basic way to prep them, saute in a little bacon grease and throw some shitakes in there. Maybe a splash of the high life to flash the shrooms.

any other recipes or varieties out there to check out?

[The Shocker]

Boil em with ham hocks, onions, garlic and season to taste.  Add pepper vinegar at the table.

[RAGER]

i suggest greens Greek style.  Braised until the softness you want and then copious amounts of olive oil and fresh squeezed lemon juice.

[cat shepard]

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm now you're talkin

[mortlock]

beans and greens with italian sausage..totally scrump..

[libertycaps]

i suggest greens Greek style.  Braised until the softness you want and then copious amounts of olive oil and fresh squeezed lemon juice.

This man knows his food. Applauded.

[NCR600]

I like Tuscan Kale or Cavolo Nero or whatever you want to call it. One of the few things I can grow on my balcony without it getting burned to shit by the salt spray from the ocean.

It's nice wilted down with a little bacon and garlic added in at the end because it takes so long to soften up. Good in minestrone as well.

[cat shepard]

Always nice to add some greens to a hearty soup, good for ya.  I do love greens. The cook here says they are ready and you get them and put vinegar and pepper on em, and sometimes I add hot sauce, gonna try some of these other ways soon.

[black]

Man, all of the above sound great. Y'all know how to get your Soul Food on.

[RAGER]

I like Tuscan Kale or Cavolo Nero or whatever you want to call it. One of the few things I can grow on my balcony without it getting burned to shit by the salt spray from the ocean.

It's nice wilted down with a little bacon and garlic added in at the end because it takes so long to soften up. Good in minestrone as well.

I know a stupid simple soup with cavolo nero. 
2 cans of tomatoes with herbs.
1 can of cannellini beans
bunch of cavolo nero

add tomatoes to pan and add a can of water, add the kale, bring up to heat and simmer partially covered for about 15 min.  Add the beans and heat through.  Season with salt and pepper. Serve in bowls, drizzle with olive oil.  have a nice chunk of bread.

Stupid simple and awesome.

[khoomeizhi]

ready for a weird one that the standard sterile modern crowd is a little freaked out by? (might be you!)

a couple times now, i've made gundru (one of several acceptable transliterations). it's nepalese fermented greens. you take a fairly massive amount of greens (i once used the tops of four pretty big turnips), let them wilt in the sun for an hour or two, then smash 'em up a bit with a rolling pin and cram them tightly into a jar. you pack the jar (pint, unless you've got a true shit-ton of greens around) tight with greens (no other ingredients), screw a lid on the jar, and let it sit in the sun for at least two weeks (i usually go a month). no, i'm serious.

at the end you can just eat them (somewhat sour and VERY greens-y tasting), or i tend to spread the leaves out and dry them, and use them to start soups.

most of the time, we just have greens steamed or sauteed, though.

[RAGER]

That doesn't sound out of the ordinary to me but I make my own kimchi, sauerkraut, and pickle just about everything.  I'll try it this summer

[MadJohnShaft]

I love the greens too and the CSA means you get a damn lot.   The Kale and Chard in the garden held out way until after the first few frosts.  After a frost they get even better.


The Collards are out there in the 10 degree weather, that may just finish them off but it's amazing how easy it is to make a huge amount of food out of a small patch of garden.

[Lumpy]

Collard greens with turkey sausage and a splash of white vinegar. I got burned out on that though (always made too much).

[MadJohnShaft]

The collards were under the snow and now they're out there standing up straight again a foot tall. 

[khoomeizhi]

seeded some siberian kale today.

[RAGER]

We'll start kale and radicchio end of this month.

[BitterAndTwisted]

We don't have collard greens over here.  At least we don't have anything we call that, maybe we call it something else I dunno.

My favourite way with greens of all types is to bathe them in garlic and herb butter once they're al dente and ready to serve.  Yummy.  No bacon grease here thanks as I'm not a meat-eater but that sounds like it would be delish.  I'm sure a bit of crispy bacon would be good sprinkled over it, too.

[El Zombre]

I make a stew out of kale/chard/collard greens with sausages and tomatoes. Once in a while the market near me stocks young kale, which are tender and spicy. A really good salad greens - but just a bit older and they're way fibrous and chewy.

[rayinreverse]

I do an Italian sausage and white bean soup with kale. It's the jam. Pretty similar to some other things that have been mentioned.

[mertz]

^^^sounds yummery.

[peoplething]

I make a stew out of kale/chard/collard greens with sausages and tomatoes.

wow, that sounds good. I made some mashed potatoes with Kale last weekend. I wondered when I threw them in the boiling pot with the potatoes if the super greens could translate to soups or stews. the Internets has proven they can, and apparently deliciously.

[Ryno]

Been making a lot of kale chips lately. My favorite way to eat it!  Strip the kale from it's stems, toss it olive oil, sprinkle with salt, pepper, and any number of other spices or seasonings, maybe a little nutritional yeast, and spread it all out on a sheet pan. Throw it in the oven on the lowest setting possible, like "warm" and let it bake for an hour. Some say leave the oven door open but I haven't done that.  When finished you have crispy, seasoned, delicious kale chips that you will mow down in one sitting.

[MadJohnShaft]

Wife loves those kale chips.


My collards and kale made it through the non-winter and I can go out and pick fresh new kale leaves at will. Amazing.

[Ryno]

They're awesome. Never cared for kale before. But the chips are amazing. I guess the real way to do it is with a food dehydrator but the oven method works fine too.