Ever since August, I've been stoked on greens.
Growing up, there were some greens - stuff that I hated. Peppers (a hell shell stuffed with rice), green beans (usually accompanied by a can opener) and iceberg lettuce.
My mom isn't horrible. Much. Except that she kept me from my love affair with beets. And denies it.
I took out this book from the library (borrowing saves money and reduces waste. And if you like it that much after reading it, then buy it used from Amazon.) It's called Greens, Glorious Greens and I'll be damned if I've made one recipe from this book. I even shamelessy renewed it for another three weeks.
However! This book has been a complete primer for a Greens Ignoramus like myself. It gives a short chapter on various greens (Chard, Bok Choy, Mustard Greens, Cabbage, Dandelion Greens, etc) mentioning what to look for, how to store it, what parts you eat and then gives recipes on what the heck you do with it.
I'm in love. I will be buying this one eventually - used of course, someone else's grease splatterings and spighetti sauce sprinkling the pages.
This summer I have successfully incorporated chard and kale into our weekly meals. Two days ago I went brave. I bought the one green in the book that was not a success for the authors. They openly admitted that there isn't much to do with this one.
Given my past relationships with men and how they could benefit from my love and attempt at makeovers, I had to try it.
Mustard Greens have entered our lives. And it's not so bad. That's probably because they tried to warn me. It was rather anti-climatic (like all the hype surrounding There's Something About Mary - all for the Load Glazed Hair shot) in that it wasn't nearly as intense as the book said.
Of course if you sautee a pair of socks with shallots and garlic, they probably won't taste that bad either.
Before we were eating the greens on a daily basis, I had symptoms of tingling a lot. Particularly in my legs and one big toe and sometimes my arms. After eating them nearly daily, the tingles dumped me. I don't know what I was missing, but clearly, the greens helped.
I love flipping through the various chapters and choosing the next vegetable that will be adored, washed, chopped and then sauteed.
Sorry folks. That's about as adventurous as I get. Or will admit to on this blog at the moment.
Tonight, I am making rice balls. (I'll pause for those of you who need to smirk).
If you chop up the vegetables tiny enough, mix them with the rice, coat with flour (gluten free in our case) and fry up! A fabulous way to sneak in the veggies.
Speaking of. I'm burning the balls. Time to go gently maneuver them.
