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Post by daylilydude on Jun 2, 2018 6:36:44 GMT -5
The wife and I are big collard greens with bacon lovers, but we were wondering what others prefer and how you cook it as we really want to branch out with other greens...
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Post by brownrexx on Jun 2, 2018 8:23:20 GMT -5
Actually I think that the Southern way of cooking greens is different that what I do at my house. Hubby likes cooked greens, including collards, but I don't. I tried cooking some bacon and then adding the greens to wilt them but he doesn't like that as much as he likes them just boiled and drained. He likes to add melted butter and salt or occasionally some white vinegar.
I don't grow collards any more because they need to be grown under cover to protect them from cabbage butterflies but he really likes Swiss chard, spinach and last year he tried beet greens and really liked them. We tried turnip greens but they seemed kind of furry and he didn't like that texture although the taste was OK.
If you have not tried Swiss chard you might like it. I grow the rainbow one so it is pretty and it will take the heat as well as the cold so I plant it in the Spring and it grows all summer and into the Fall.
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Post by paulf on Jun 2, 2018 9:36:44 GMT -5
No such thing as cooking greens. Lettuce and spinach and green peppers are used in salads raw. Green beans and asparagus, if they are considered greens, do get cooked. Green beans more than asparagus.
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Post by hairymooseknuckles on Jun 2, 2018 10:38:40 GMT -5
daylilydude, Have you been following my growing thread? We love Collards too, but these greens that pepperhead212 sent me are every bit as good. Semposai & Komatsuma I got to take a break but I'll be back.
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Post by hairymooseknuckles on Jun 2, 2018 11:05:10 GMT -5
Ok, I'm back. The Semposai greens are a lot like cabbage. The Komatsuma are really good too. I did not try boiling them, but you could. We have gotten to where we fry bacon pieces along with onion and sauté the greens. You can add any other seasonings from salt/pepper or go the Cajun route. We cook according to our taste that particular night.
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Post by pepperhead212 on Jun 2, 2018 11:20:38 GMT -5
That's a tough one to answer, given all those greens I cook! Collards and kale I have grown, but they take much longer to grow than all those Asian greens I grow. The chard is more heat resistant, and I started growing that a lot when Bayless called for it in his books, in place of lamb's quarters. I've also grown some other Chenopodium species, since they are heat resistant, but none of them had a really unique flavor, so I never grew them again. The chard is my favorite for the Mexican dishes. Bok choy, komatsuna, and senposai I use the most of overall. Spinach bolts too early for me - those 90+ days early on trigger them every time.
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Post by mgulfcoastguy on Jun 2, 2018 15:00:42 GMT -5
The same as Hairy but we usually use olive oil, sweet onion , and add apple cider vinegar at the end.
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Post by meandtk on Jun 2, 2018 17:33:54 GMT -5
My favorite is collards. I like to take pork shank and render fat out of it, add a bit of water, then add the collards and boil them. Cook a pone of cornbread and chow down.
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Post by horsea on Jun 3, 2018 20:19:57 GMT -5
I enjoyed reading about this topic. Brings back memories of when I could still grow brassica-type leafy greens with nary a problem, but then several years ago, flea beetles inundated (prolly from nearby mustard farms) and they have set up permanent shop. There is no solution apart from heavy chemicals.
So, I grow Swiss Chard instead now, the kind with small smooth leaves and thin stems (Italian type). We enjoy them briefly boiled in a small amount of water, then added to sauteed onions. Cream is then added and some salt 'n' pepper and a brief cook, and Bob's Yer Uncle. V. Good & Simple. We did spinach that way when I was a kid.
Also, I grow escarole and make it into soup. It is a nice, slightly bitter vegetable and good for ya, too, I am told.
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Post by horsea on Jun 3, 2018 20:21:36 GMT -5
Re: cooking of Collards. I tried cooking some bacon and then adding the greens to wilt them but he doesn't like that as much as he likes them just boiled and drained. That is the ages-old, traditional way. And that is why it tastes so much better when boiled & drained. The folks who did things a certain way for aeons were usually correct.
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Post by carolyn on Jun 4, 2018 20:46:43 GMT -5
we dont eat greens here. there is no favorite way that anyone would eat them. I tried collards .... once. shuddering even thinking about them. brussel sprouts... once again... once. there was nothing about them I liked either. nah... I take that back, I think someone fixed B-S's with bacon and some kind of glaze I liked a long time ago.
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Post by brownrexx on Jun 5, 2018 6:39:07 GMT -5
brussel sprouts... once again... once. there was nothing about them I liked either. carolyn, I'll bet you have never had decently cooked Brussels sprouts. Overcooked ones are quite horrible and smell sulfury. Yuk. I cut them in half, boil for about 2 minutes (still bright green) and then saute in butter with some seasonings until they get a brown color on the flat side. They are delicious. I also roast them in olive oil and seasoning in the oven with good results. You wouldn't believe how different they taste. I would NEVER eat a boiled one!
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stone
Pro Member
Posts: 170
Zone:: 8
Favorite Vegetable:: Bambi
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Post by stone on Jun 5, 2018 8:54:58 GMT -5
Kale, lamb's quarter, turnip, and rutabaga. Heat enough to wilt and take off heat.... And yes, usually with a small amount of olive oil... Although.... If I have some nice fresh Bambi... Add some greens at the end.
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Post by carolyn on Jun 5, 2018 13:34:13 GMT -5
probably... still .....not gonna worry over not having had good ones. I did start flowering ummm... flowersprouts? a cross between brussel sprouts and kale. they look pretty if nothing else.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Jun 5, 2018 13:47:33 GMT -5
I like spinach or mustard, wilted with a bit of bacon and garlic.
I like turnip greens or collards, too, cooked slow with a nice ham hock. But I don't have the patience to make them very often, and I end up having to eat the whole pot by myself, which discourages me from making them too often.
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Deleted
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Joined: January 1970
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Post by Deleted on Jun 18, 2018 7:14:04 GMT -5
I don't like collards, fixed any way. It is a texture thing, even the very young leaves are too leathery to my mouth.
Beet greens I usually get at Luby's when I want them, and add a bit of that peppers in vinegar bottle stuff they have on tables here in Texas. Spinach I like most any way it is fixed. Kale is good, especially in soups, but none of that curled up version, it never softens.
I also like cooked greens run through the food processor to add to the nmeat/veg mix for chinese pot stickers.
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