Meet this week’s vegetables:
As we have progressed into fall, you may have noticed the subtle shifts in the share over the last few weeks. One particular aspect of colder weather foods is the profusion of greens, from kale to chard to arugula. Heat favors fruiting flavors, but cool temperatures allow green vegetables to become tender and sweet. They also generally flourish in weather that kills or slows down things like tomatoes and peppers.
Unfortunately, as the typical American diet has become less and less seasonally defined, I think that greens as a group have lost their place of prominence in our eating habits. Why would a savvy shopper choose to buy a dark bitter green in January when there are still tomatoes on the shelves?
You, however, have chosen to eat more seasonally this year. Seasonal eating is a wonderful adventure in flavors. It is especially delightful in summer months when the fields are bursting with sweet favorites like melons and corn. But as October rolls on, some of you might find seasonality brings new challenges as well. Green leafy vegetables like kale just don’t have the same curb appeal of cucumbers.
And here we’ll share a bit of our story: once upon a time we too were unfamiliar with the many diverse greens available this time of year. We only began eating them when we worked on another farm. When we initially tried things like kale, at first we were um … slightly apathetic?
But we were immersed in greens. And we kept eating them, cooking them different ways, waiting for our taste buds to become acquainted with their textures and flavors. In not too long, we actually found ourselves craving kale and cabbage. Studies have shown that everyone (not just children) may have to try a new food several times (even up to 10) before acquiring a taste for it.
Some folks might wonder: why bother? Our answer: diversity of experience. Learning to enjoy the complex offerings in greens opens up new worlds of flavor and experience. In some ways, it is almost like learning a new language. This fall, we are growing many different greens, each offering a distinct flavor and texture: kale (five varieties), chard, collards, mustards, bok choi, broccoli raab, cabbage (over six kinds), turnip greens, spinach, arugula, beet greens, and lettuces. One will never grow tired with so many options.
Another reason to try and try again? Greens are nutritional powerhouses. Cooked or raw, they are some of the most nutritious foods available to us omnivores. Kale, for example, is rich in vitamins A, C, and the mineral calcium. Kale also has the highest protein content of all the cultivated vegetables.
Still daunted and want to skip the kale at the pick-up site? Here are some tips, beyond simply trying again and again, for enjoying greens:
Before cooking at all, taste them raw. Have you ever tried tasting a vegetable with the attention you might give to a glass of wine? Tear off a piece of a green, put it in your mouth, and chew it slowly with your eyes closed. What do you taste? What subtleties underlie the initial flavors? What tastes could you imagine the green ‘fitting’ with in a dish? That experience might lead you to new cooking experiences.
If you do find yourself at a loss for ideas still, rather than sticking with a standard method experiment with cooking or preparing the greens in different ways. Look in an all-purpose cookbook such as The Joy of Cooking for traditional recipes involving an unfamiliar green, such as Irish Colcannon (mashed potatoes and kale/cabbage) or mustard greens with chickpeas and curry. Some of these old standards are superb.
In our household, an easy quick meal is to wilt cooking greens in a pan with some kind of oil or fat and then serve them with pasta, rice, or other grain. It’s a simple solution worth trying, but don’t forget to experiment with different combinations: trying matching the appropriate oil to the green. For example, try dressing steamed bok choi with sesame oil and soy sauce. Or try wilting collard greens in bacon grease. As I’ve been learning in Nina Planck’s book Real Foods: What to Eat and Why, a little of the right fat (in the form of dressing or cooking substrate) can make a meal outstanding.
Sometimes at Oakhill Organics we feel like ‘vegetable evangelists,’ because we want everyone to know the pleasure we have when eating a kale frittata or wilted mustard greens. Let us know where your experiments take you!
Enjoy this week’s vegetables, including the many green ones!
Your farmers,
Katie & Casey Kulla
Oakhill Organics
All this yummy talk about greens is making me salivate! Luckily, here in Portland we can find nice locally grown produce. But you guys have a neat way of making one really, really crave vegetables. See you on Sunday!