Some leafy greens many of you have probably discarded as non-food but which really aren’t:
• radish greens, which generally need a thorough rinse but are quite nice in salads. If the radishes you get are bunch radishes with leafy greens, try adding the greens alongside your romaine and tomatoes.
• cauliflower greens — if the head of cauliflower you get has a substantial bit of the leaves around the base, cut through the bottoms of them and set them aside; they’re quite nice sliced fine and sauteed in olive oil and garlic.
Without doubt my favourite green veg is lucerne/alfalafa … but only after it has been consumed, digested and undergone biosynthesis by an appropriate domesticated ruminant.
I don’t know precisely what your wife did, but a simple possibility is to slice them all in half, put them on a baking sheet, spray them with cooking spray, and sprinkle Parmesan cheese and the seasonings of your choice, then put them under the broiler for a few minutes. Or you can slice them and pan-fry them in olive oil, for a similar effect.
Basically cabbage. Cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, kale, kohlrabi, collards, rabe, romanesco, and several others are all the same species, just bred to grow different parts of the plant larger. And it’s a much longer list yet if you look at other species in the same genus.
Probably tied between fresh peas (shelling peas please! I’m happy to eat the edible-pod ones like sugar snap etc., but the old-fashioned shelling pea is the favorite) and cucumbers.
Leafy greens are great too, and in fact the brassicas and beans and pretty much every other vegetable as well, but if I have to come down on an absolute favorite green veg, that’s where it lands.
I like most all vegetables as long as they are fresh and not canned. The major exception is kale. The only way I will eat that is when it is thoroughly cleaned, with all major veins removed and then cooked to death in a soup or stew. I do like me some Portuguese Kale Soup.
Favorite is probably Brussels sprouts, I usually slice them in half (or quarters if they are larger) then saute them in olive oil, often with some mushrooms and garlic. Add a little balsamic vinegar at the end. So good.
My mother got me interested in kohlrabi, which may not be considered a leafy green vegetable, since I cut off and dispose the leafy portion. I then peel the root and eat them raw (usually after slicing them).
