How To Use Greens That Are Past Their Prime

When you have lots of greens – both for cooking and salads – it is sometimes hard to use them up before they start to wilt. This occurred this past week after we picked up loads of lettuce and cooking greens from our csa only for me to fall sick on Saturday and Sunday. With me sick it meant that the produce that would normally get eaten at every meal sat in the crisper drawers wilting away.

By Monday I was back on my feet, looking into a refrigerator filled with greens, some of which were on the brink of inedible. With a little bit of time and willingness to eat lots of greens in the coming days we were able to salvage most of them, using these tips…

Cooking Greens

To wash and revive: place them in a deep bowl of cold water, setting aside any leaves that are starting to look “slimy”.

To use: choose a method that disguises the greens with other flavors. For example: instead of a quick saute do a long braise such as southern style braised greens or toss them into a quiche such as a turnip greens quiche.

For Salad Greens

To wash and revive: just as the cooking greens place them in a deep bowl of cold water and set aside any leaves that are starting to look “slimy”.

To use: Those that are still crisp place in a salad spinner or dry on a tea towel. Use in salads. For those that are no longer crisp enough for salad use that lettuce in Kimi’s tangy herbed lettuce soup or throw them into a smoothie.

For Those That Didn’t Make It

For those greens that are slimy and completely inedible dump them into your compost pile. I never like wasting food, but somehow putting it in the compost pile doesn’t seem like such a waste. It seems like an investment in future meals when it is going into your garden.