I was thinking of a poll for preferences of various greens, and rather than checking Wikipedia I thought I’d just ask for likely candidates for a poll list that would supplement:
I don’t object to two polls, but maybe the number of items will dictate that.
If it matters, I only had cooked spinach for the first 20 years of my life and was blown away at how good it was raw in salads. That’s not to suggest that all greens can be done that way, and I understand that poke salet is toxic unless cooked (almost to death). And then there are the “wild greens” to consider.
As for the poll idea, what if we went with multiple choice and labeled the items as “cooked” and “raw” instead of having to have two separate polls? Just an idea.
Other than in “wilted salads” is lettuce ever good cooked?
I have an ancient pseudo “lo mein” recipe clipped from Women’s Day or Family Circle in the 80’s. It uses Ramen noodles, ground pork, onions, carrots, peas…and chopped Romain lettuce. A whole head of it, heaped up on top of the other stuff and with the lid just balancing, until it wilts down and suddenly the dish fits into the pan.
It’s delicious.
It’s not remotely like lo mein, but it’s delicious.
I love collard greens prepared correctly (they take time to tenderize, and you need some smoked pork, and turnip or parsnip, and garlic in there, and if you didn’t strip out the stems you are a lazy cook). Kale and spinach are also up there. And salad greens are totally different thing. Romaine is the only necessary green in my salads.
Yeah, collards are one of the greens that you really do need to strip out that tough inner stem. And remember to wash your greens thoroughly! I didn’t bother once when I made a mix of collards and mustard greens, thinking they looked pretty well-cleaned. Nothing like eating a plate of greens and spitting out little bits of sand.
A great dish to use up lots of different kinds of greens is gumbo z’herbes. That’s a link to a vegetarian version (which is great), but you can also add a ham hock or tasso or andouille or whatnot to it if you feel like it. I think it works just fine as a straight-up vegetarian gumbo.
Kale by a mile. It is the best for you buy a lot (a true superfood) and tastes great cooked with olive oil, fresh garlic, and chopped peppers. I eat a large bag of it almost every single day. Collards are a close second.