Saturday, February 7, 2015

Greens Greens Greens!

It must be winter in Southern California.

My husband picked up the veggies this week at the CSA and ooh-boy, are they full of greens!  Craziness I say.  I know what we are eating this week.

Allow me to list:
kale - 2 bunches
chard - 1 bunch
"spicy greens" - 1 bunch
lettuce - 2 heads
spinach - 1 bag
turnips (with greens) - 1 bunch
beets (with greens) - 1 bunch
(We also got cauliflower, marinara, oranges)

So.  My goodness.

Today I fired up a pot of water with the steamer insert and started washing.

I first washed and steamed the turnip greens and beet greens, and put them in a bowl when done.

Then I washed and steamed the chard, and chopped the stems and tossed those into the crock pot with the black bean soup that's in there (recipe from Budget Bytes).

After that I washed the spicy mix and tossed it in there.  Generally the spicy mix is used in salad.  I could have done that and mixed it with the lettuce and spinach.  But I find it to be really spicy.  And as I suspect that we will be getting the spicy mix for several weeks, I decided to pace myself.

While the spicy mix was cooking, I smelled a strange burning smell. I  turned it off and moved it into the bowl.  Here's the bowl:

After it cooled, I pureed it in the food processor.  My favorite ways to eat greens are in soup, in frittata or quiche, as an Indian curry, mixed with an Asian sauce, or creamed.

These are destined to be creamed with cream cheese and parmesan.

As I started to wash the mountain of dishes, I noticed that the burning smell was the bottom of my big pot.  Ugh.  It's soaking right now, while the beets and turnips roast.

Does anyone have a good turnip recipe?  I admit, I don't care for them.  I've tried them many ways, but mostly end up choking them down with potatoes.

9 comments:

sevenoverb said...

Hi Marcia, I am visiting via frugal trenches :) I admire how you plan to plug away at those greens--I am guilty of losing interest after awhile and wasting them. I like turnip in soup or stew, more than potato actually. I also like them roasted in the juices of a roast. My husband is from Newfoundland (Canada) and they boil salt beef with turnips, carrots, potatoes, cabbage and/or greens all in the same pot. It really is delicious, although an acquired taste for some. So from the sounds of it, I like turnips cooked one way or another alongside meat! (I hope you're not a vegetarian, I've only read a few posts so far!) I admire how you are tackling the grocery bill. We are trying the same here. Good luck!

Marcia said...

Thanks for the tips! I think yes, with meat might be the best option. I once found a recipe called "Best turnip recipe ever!"

It called for 3 turnips and a pound of bacon. :)

Joanne said...

That is a LOT of greens!! These are my two favorite recipes for using turnips: http://joanne-eatswellwithothers.com/2015/01/winter-vegetable-tostadas-gruyere-fontina.html and http://joanne-eatswellwithothers.com/2013/10/vegan-puffy-tacos-with-cumin-spiced-hummus-thenewsouthwest-cookbookspotlight.html

You can't even tell you're eating turnips!!

Anonymous said...

Try roasting the turnips.

Boz said...

Pioneer woman makes a turnip gratin that looks pretty tasty - maybe because of all the cheese!

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2008/11/turnip-gratin/

Marcia said...

Okay, the cheese would definitely help with the turnips like meat would. (Joanne's tostadas and the gratin) I roasted them this time with some parmesan. I choked down a few but threw a bunch out.

We didn't get turnips this week, but I did get 2 bunches kale, 1 bunch collards, 1 bunch chard, 2 heads lettuce. Oy!

sevenoverb said...

Ha! Everything's better with bacon! My husband actually likes to take raw chunks of turnip in his lunch (shudder!)

sevenoverb said...

Have you ever made kale chips? My kids love them! Wash and pat dry a bunch of kale. I remove the rib from bigger pieces. Put about a tbsp olive oil in a bowl and toss. Spread the kale in a single layer (not overlapping) on parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Sprinkle with sea salt and bake 10-15 mins at 375F. A nice change when there's a lot of greens to eat!

Marcia said...

Kale chips are how we eat kale 90% of the time. Had them tonight!! I puffy heart kale chips.