<p>One of my favorite Sunday morning shows, Gardening with Ciscoe, features cooking demos of Chef Lynne from PCC Natural Markets (a local organic veggie co-op). She is a magician who can turn inedible-looking veggies into yummy dishes!</p>
<p>This is a delicious and easy to prepare recipe that I make often:</p>
<p>Lemon Gnocchi with Spinach and Peas</p>
<p>1 cup frozen baby peas (not thawed)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon dried hot red-pepper flakes
1 garlic clove, smashed
3 cups packed baby spinach (3 ounces)
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 pound dried gnocchi (preferably De Cecco)
1/4 cup grated parmesan</p>
<p>Simmer peas with cream, red-pepper flakes, garlic, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a 12-inch heavy skillet, covered, until tender, about 5 minutes.
Add spinach and cook over medium-low heat, uncovered, stirring, until wilted. Remove from heat and stir in lemon zest and juice.
Meanwhile, cook gnocchi in a pasta pot of boiling salted water (3 tablespoons salt for 6 quarts water) until al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup pasta-cooking water, then drain gnocchi.
Add gnocchi to sauce with cheese and some of reserved cooking water and stir to coat. Thin with additional cooking water if necessary.</p>
<p>I always add kale or escarole to chicken soup. Soak the greens thoroughly to remove grit (and cut away the thick stems if you use kale). Chop and add to the soup about 20 minutes before it’s done. Greens cook down quite a bit, so you can add a entire bunch to a large pot of soup.</p>
<p>I make an escarole salad quite often - it’s a wonderful green with a little bit of bitterness. Add tomatoes, cucumbers and whatever else to the salad.</p>
<p>The only way I’ve been able to enjoy the more bitter greens is to juice them with an apple, pear, or carrot for sweetener. Celery and cucumber tone down the bitter veggies in juice, too. I think that eating them fresh in juice is probably healthier than cooking them and then mixing them with other things to make them palatable.
Some people don’t mind the bitter flavor, though. Unfortunately, my finely tuned sweet tooth rebels.</p>
<p>Because it has a strong flavor, kale is best cooked with other foods. Try adding it to minestrone soup. Make sure to chop it finely. Mixed with mashed potatoes, it’s called colcannon - quite tasty.</p>
<p>One of my favorite greens recipes is for spinach. You just cook it in the liquid clinging to the leaves after washing. Then add juice of lemon and a tablespoon or two of extra virgin olive oil. It’s also good with raisins (steam them with the spinach) and pine nuts.</p>
<p>Not really low-cal, but I’ve become a fan of creamed spinach but have yet to make it myself - I’ve had this recipe cut up to try sometime - I saw it on tv once and it looks really really yummy!</p>
<p>Lol…leafy greens made me think of palak paneer…kind of like creamed spinach, but much tastier and with cheese (also a little spicier…be warned!)</p>
<p>I chop up a ton of fresh garlic, saute it in EV olive oil, then add the finely cut up greens that are still wet from washing (or the whole bag of frozen greens) and add a tablespoon or so and cover - stirring every few minutes until wilted. Spinach is quick, collards, kale take a bit longer. Add a little salt/pepper to taste.</p>
<p>I have to add that with my work schedule, my family was sorely lacking veggies (between shopping for them, washing and cutting etc - took way too long) so a few months ago, we bit the bullet and started stocking up on frozen veggies and prepped as above, we now get our share.</p>
<p>ETA: another favorite dish - I make a pound of pasta (usually whole wheat) and during the last few minutes I will add the green (escarole is a favorite) cook together. You may have to add a minute of cooking time for the pasta.</p>
<p>In a skillet, saute a ton of chopped garlic in EV olive oil, add a can of cannellini beans (I include the liquid) and stir. Add crushed red pepper if desired. Drain pasta/greens and mix bean mix and stir. Serve with grated parmesan cheese.</p>
<p>Pengo, that’s exactly the way I cook my greens except for Spinach that we eat raw. The key is a lot of garlic and a sprinkle of “spike” .
For those who can’t stand eating just plain greens, eat them with saute tomatoes with ginger and onions.</p>
<p>I eat spinach at least 3X a week. I like it simple. I have a large pyrex bowl with a vented top that I jam full of fresh washed spinach. Microwave for three minutes, drain quickly in a colander and sprinkle olive oil, salt and a bit of pepper. Goes great with everything.
fyi — my COSTCO has giant bags of spinach for about 3.00–enough for four heaping servings for two.</p>
<p>If I am serving it with fish, I great a bit of lemon peel and squeeze a bit of juice on it.</p>
<p>I like them fresh. Or frrresrch the way my grandma from Mo. would say it.
Especially mustard greens on a ham sandwich.
Kale in a goat cheese and pasta salad
Spinach I just stir fry lightly with the water from washing it.
Chard is really good in quiche or fritattas
Basil is also really good on a tomato and cheese sandwich.
( tomatoes from the garden of course)</p>
<p>My favorite is a baby spinach salad. Sprinkle with walnuts, either feta or blue cheese crumbles, and pear slices or dried cherries or craisins. Dressing of 50% balsamic vinegar, 50% olive oil.</p>
<p>It’s really easy to add spinach to dishes as you are cooking if you prewash the spinach and have it waiting in the refrigerator. I just tear up or slice a bunch and add it to other vegs. I’m cooking. Add the spinach at the very last minute because it doesn’t really take any time to cook. </p>
<p>I have making lots of mixed veg. dishes lately as I am trying to eat a lot more vegs. I usually saute some onions, celery, and garlic in a little olive oil, and then put it the other vegs. Add in quick-cooking vegs. like tomato and spinach at the very end. I have been adding sweet potato cubes to these mixtures, often from sweet potatoes I have microwaved.</p>
<p>OP’s referenced recipe is from a traditional dish served by Blacks. Variations include spinach and vinegar, sting beans and vinegar. I never have figured out why the cooking was so long or why the pot is covered. </p>
<p>We today picked some garden, self-seeded collards. If the main stem or viens are stingy, cut out leaving the tender green portions. We keep it simple and do a boil (just a couple of minutes) then stirfry by itself or with pork, chix, or beef strips ( garlic and ginger added to taste). If I do it, I just stirfry and forget the boil stage. </p>
<p>If the leaves are older, be sure to cut leaf across the veins, which keeps the length of stingy fibers short.
If the leaves were stored, add a little sugar. If the leaves are picked recently, you may find that the leaves are sweet enough. </p>
<p>Use salt sparingly and if you use a sauce, omit the salt.</p>
<p>Indian mustard or broad leaf mustard is slightly bitter and a fairly strong flavor. Preparation is the same as for collards. </p>
<p>In our garden, we allow a few mustard open pollinate and self seed. And each year we have mustard, collards, broccoli that is different from the year before.</p>
<p>Kelowna, your post inspired me! I made the collard greens soup for dinner (see the PCC recipe) - mmmm, yummy! H and I are eating it right now. :)</p>