Tag: Greens

processing collards (collard greens) to freeze

freezing greens collards collard greens winter greens

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Check out our YouTube video for the step-by-step process!

Collards, kale and other winter greens are perfect for freezing, because I always parboil them in salted water before I cook them in a recipe, anyway. The parboiling makes the greens tender, and the salt in the water removes bitterness. The greens keep just fine in the freezer for a whole year, packed in zipper-top freezer bags. Cook them up as braised collard greens, or in beans-and-greens soups. Look for recipes in my Farmers’ Market Cookbook!

several bunches of collard greens

1. Bring a large pot of water to boil, and salt it well.
2. Cut the leaves away from the long stems of 2 or 3 bunches of collards. Stack the leaves on top of each other, folded in half lengthwise, and slice the leaves into 1” wide ribbons.
3. Plunge the greens into the pot of boiling salted water, as many will fit at one time, and cook until tender. This could take as long as 8 or 10 minutes, but could be much shorter, depending on the age or toughness of the greens. Start tasting after 5 minutes.
4. Remove the greens to a colander, rinse with cold water and let drain for a bit. Squeeze gently to remove some of the water. Transfer to a freezer ziplock bag or a recycled yogurt container (label it first) and pop it in the freezer. 

Swiss chard with cumin, tomatoes, and cilantro

tomatoes onions chard cilantro greens chard stems beet greens

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This recipe is deceptive—maybe it doesn’t look all that phenomenal, but I’m telling you, it is fabulous. The fresh Swiss chard at the market now is so sweet and delicious, and those big red tomatoes are so good… You can get fresh cilantro, and I even used Alaskan storage onions! Even if you don’t have the cilantro, make this anyway!

It’s a variation of a recipe in a Cooks’ Illustrated from many years ago. I have all the back issues, and I love mining them for good ideas!

If you happen to have a fresh jalepeno hanging around, by all means use it, but otherwise, just use a small can of chopped green chiles. I always keep a few cans in the pantry just for these sorts of occasions. The chiles really do add a great taste.

I ate this with spicy roasted cauliflower with red peppers and cumin and a little brown basmati rice (recipes in the cookbook and on the website), and it was SO GOOD!

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, minced
sea salt or kosher salt
4 medium cloves garlic, minced
1 medium jalepeno pepper, OR 1 small can chopped green chiles
1 ½ teaspoons cumin
2 large tomatoes, chopped
2 pounds Swiss chard with stems
2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
freshly-ground black pepper

1. Wash the chard and cut the stems off each leaf. Holding the stems in a bundle, cut them into ½-inch slices. If the leaves are large, slice them into 1-inch wide ribbons, but if they are small, you can leave them whole. Drain the leaves, but don’t dry them.
2. Heat oil in a large saute pan. Add onion and ½ teaspoon of salt, sauté for a minute or two until starting to soften, then add the chard stems. Cook until stems are tender and onion is cooked. How long this takes will depend on the age of the chard. If the pan is drying out before the stems are tender, just add a bit of water to steam them and finish cooking them.
3. Then add the garlic, chiles, and cumin; sauté another minute or so. Add the tomatoes and cook until their juices release, about another minute. Add wet greens to the pan, stir around a bit, then cover and cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until greens completely wilt but are still bright green, about 5 minutes. Uncover, and if needed, finish cooking until just tender. Add cilantro. Taste and season with additional salt if desired, and pepper if it’s not spicy enough already from the chiles.

wine-braised lentils over toast with greens

carrots chard spinach lentils greens toast toppings red wine

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This might sound like an unusual combination, but it is fantastic. It’s based on a recipe from Vegetarian Suppers from Deborah Madison’s Kitchen. You can use the toasted seed or levain loaves from Rise & Shine Bakery for toast, but if you use the toasted walnut oil in the recipe, the toasted walnut bread is spectacular!

I like to use the little French green lentils (sometimes they are called lentile du puy). They stay more intact than the regular brown lentils, which is kind of important in this dish, since you’re putting them on toast, not just cooking them into a soup. It’s a completely different texture than the brown lentils you may be more familiar with.

This recipe makes more lentils than you’ll need for one meal, but they are so good you’ll be glad for the leftovers. They freeze really well, too—just freeze the lentils before adding the greens. As with all bean recipes, this tastes even better if you make it the day before, or in the morning, so the flavors have time to develop.

1 ½ cups small green lentils, rinsed
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup diced onion
1 cup diced carrot
1 cup diced celery
6 garlic cloves, crushed or minced
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2-3 cups dry red wine
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
sea salt and freshly-ground pepper
2 bunches of chard or spinach, washed and stemmed
1 tablespoon toasted walnut oil (I like Loriva brand), extra-virgin olive oil, or butter
-------------------------------------------------------
slices of sturdy whole-grain bread
1 clove garlic, peeled

1. Parboil the lentils for 5 minutes and drain.
2. Heat olive oil in a large, heavy soup pot. Add the diced vegetables and 1 teaspoon salt, and cook over medium-high heat for several minutes, until starting to brown. Add the crushed garlic, mash the tomato paste into the vegetables, then pour in the wine and stir in the mustard. Add 3 cups water, the drained lentils, and 1 more teaspoon salt. Simmer, covered, until the lentils are quite tender, 30 to 40 minutes. Season to taste with salt. Lentils can use quite a bit of salt, so don’t be afraid to keep tasting and adding salt until you’ve got the balance just right.
3. Wilt the spinach in a skillet in the water clinging to its leaves. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Just before serving, stir as many cooked greens as you’d like into the portion of lentils that you’ll be eating right away, and add the oil or butter.
4. Toast the bread until nice and crunchy, and rub it with the whole garlic clove. Put each piece of toast on a plate and spoon the lentils and greens over the toast.