what to do with greens??

spaghetti_monster

Hi there,
I had some questions to ask and ideas to share as I now get a weekly veg bag from a local garden. Basically I have my work cut out trying to get through all the green leafy veg, but am quite enjoying the challenge as well!
There’s myself and OH and 2 kids (1.5 and 3). OH can be nagged to eat salad, but the little ones avoid the lettuce. I stuff it in sandwiches for myself, but OH is not a sandwich guy and the little ones tend to deconstruct them and throw the lettuce out.
I think I also have a bit of an aversion to plain greens as a side, (maybe caused by too many plates of over-cooked, bitter, soggy stuff during childhood!)

Here are some things I do so far (as well as salad):
- quiche
- fry spinach/cabbage/chard/kale for a short time with garlic/chilli/pepper, stir through pasta, add parmesan
- we’re in the Netherlands, so I make a popular dish here - ‘stamp pot’, which is mash with chopped veg stirred through (cabbage, kale, carrots, endive), sometimes bacon bits too.
- sounds weird, but nice to stir chopped lettuce through stir-fried rice
- also I make lentil dahl and stir through some chopped greens at the end

Does anyone else have any ideas for what to do with greens?
Or maybe any favourite preparation methods? (That might make me like them more by themselves!)

(Currently have 3 kinds of lettuce, some spinach, beetroot tops and an endive in the fridge!)

cornishchick

I love a savoy type cabbage , thinly sliced then added to fried bacon bits and steamed, just add a few drops of water and put the lid on .. Delicious .

good_advice

Hiya, i do not buy much lettuce as over half tends to go in the bin.
Spinach, i make a vegi lasagne with. Layer up the spinach instead of the mince.
Cabbage , make bubble and squeak/stir fry with other veg.
Beetroot tops would go in the bin here.

Some MSE's would say recycle in the compost. I live near a town and any food out would attract rats.

[Deleted User]

Would your littlies like soup or homemade pasta sauces? you can hide all manner of greenery in both these if you blitz it up with other flavour rich ingredients and if they don't know it's in there they'll probably be asking for seconds, Lyn xxx.

PasturesNew

Sorry .. no ideas from me. I love greens served simply steamed/boiled with lashings of gravy poured over the top

Collieheartsyou

I always use a bit of cabbage or whatever in a minestrone soup. You could blitz that up to hide greens for the wee ones. Or what about a bubble and squeak?

rockm87

my DH wont face the fact the only vegetable he eats is peas, unless they are on a pizza.

I blitz alsorts into Bolognese or Chilli, you can use less meat and stock up on goodness.

root veggies are also good for making really thin crisps.

Charlie-Brown_3

I normally cook my veg by frying a couple of cloves of garlic, then adding the veg with a pinch of sugar and stir-frying for a few seconds, then pour in some chicken stock, lid on the pan and cook until done. The time is takes to cook will vary depending on the veg used, I do this with all greens, broccoli and carrots.
Probably not the healthiest way of cooking them but it does make them taste lovely

skint_chick

Veggies like kale, parsnip, carrot, sweet potato and beetroot can be made into crisps by cutting them into slices and baking in the oven. Most of the stuff online says to brush/spray with oil but I never have and mine have always worked ok. I also love a bread bowl filled with spinach dip for my fresh veggies. Or cauliflower pizza bases, which sound disgusting but are actually really nice if you have them thin enough to go crispy. Greens can be blended into paste to be used as pizza sauce instead of tomatoes, or in lasagna and moussaka, or even homemade tortellinis. I find that if veggies are hidden inside something DH recognises he'll eat, I even managed to get him to try quinoa and veggie burgers by putting them in normal buns!

Seakay

This is a really easy recipe which can be used for all sorts of leafy greens:

http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/vegetables-recipes/italian-style-greens-ricetta-tipica-per-verdure-verdi

Any

Not green, but my most favourite way of eating carrot and leek(that is-partly-green) is to steam that in butter. Or margerine.
It is sooo divine!
Sliced leek or juliene style carrot put into melted knob of butter/margerine. Put on medium gas. Put a lid on, shake every few minutes.
Even haters of any veg will eat this. It brings out the sweetest flavours.