Green Living…

as in turnips, mustard, kale, collards, spinach and the like.  While kale seems to be the la-di-da favorite of the decade, it once was about as popular as poke salad.  A popular way of serving kale seems to be raw. The coarseness of the raw vegetable is not palatable to me so I’m not a member of the

kingdom .

I'm not opposed to trying new greens but easier greens to find from a roadside stand or farmer’s market  are  turnips, collards, mustard.    

I purchased two bunches of pretty, fresh, turnip, greens  and a large bunch of collards from a roadside truck.  The turnip green  bunches were small but enough for me.

The collard greens were actually three  bunches in one. 

I gave one bunch away and kept the other two. Using my kitchen scissors, I cut the leaves off in a v-shape and placed the stems to the side.

I usually discard the stems but this time I saved them.

photo taken from  www.blog.tamykang.com

  I cut off the ends nearest the stalk and began cutting them into one inch pieces.  

Placing them in a steamer and seasoning with Maggi chicken bouillion powder, garlic powder and pepper, I steamed them until they were tender. This didn’t take as long as I thought it would.

 

The results were tender, melt-in-your-mouth delicious. The texture was that of  asparagus and the taste was  a lighter one of collard greens,  yet flavorful.

I told a few people I know about what I thought was an original recipe. They listened but I could tell they were skeptical.  Most of them hadn't tried the collard stems. It turns out also, that I hadn't hit upon anything original. Others have been eating the stems, making soups and one person claimed to have made a gravy.

As someone once said, there’s nothing new under the sun.

Before discovering that what I'd done was nothing new, my imagination told me that maybe I shouldn’t have revealed the secret of  this two-fer vegetable .News could get back to the produce people and they might start selling only the collard leaves and charging extra for the stems. Very similarly to the way turnip bottoms are often sold separately from the green leaves.

 BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE

I cut off a portion of the stalk and placed it in a cup, in water. My little collard plant is coming along quite nicely. I'll soon place it in dirt just to see how far it will go.

This is very similar to what I did to bok choy I had.

If you’ve read any of my other posts, you know that I’m not afraid to experiment and  recycle what most people throw away. 

THAT'S ALL***