mustard greens

Mustard Greens


Mustard Greens

Have you ever tried mustard greens? Related to kale, cabbage, and collard greens, they are the peppery leafy greens of the mustard plant and are used frequently in Chinese, Japanese, and Indian cooking. I find them less bitter than kale or collard greens, and more peppery, like arugula. Just one taste of a raw leaf and you'll know it came from a mustard plant. Cooked, they taste a lot like spinach, but with more body. My father recently discovered mustard greens at our local farmers market and they're his new love. I like them with a dash of dark sesame oil, but you could easily just cook them up with a little garlic and olive oil.

Ingredients

* 1/2 cup thinly sliced onions
* 2 cloves garlic, minced
* 1 Tbsp olive oil
* 1 pound mustard greens, washed and torn into large pieces
* 2 to 3 Tbsp chicken broth or vegetable broth (vegetarian option)
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon pepper
* 1/4 teaspoon dark sesame oil

Method

1 In a large sauté pan, sauté onions in olive oil over medium heat until the onions begin to brown and caramelize, about 5 to 10 minutes. Add the minced garlic and cook a minute more, until fragrant.

2 Add the mustard greens and broth and cook until the mustard greens are just barely wilted. Toss with sesame oil. Season with salt and pepper.

Serves 4.


Ingredients for braised greens

* 4 slices bacon, chopped
* 3 bunches mustard greens, trimmed and chopped
* 2 tablespoons white vinegar
* 2 teaspoons sugar
* Coarse salt
* 2 cups chicken broth
*

Directions

In a large skillet over medium high heat brown bacon and render its fat. Add chopped greens to the pan in batches and turn until they wilt, then add more greens. When all of the greens are in the pan, add vinegar and cook a minute. Season greens with sugar and salt. Add chicken broth to the pan and cover. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer greens 15 to 20 minutes then serve.


White Bean soup w/mustard greens
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 cup diced onion
1 carrot, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
8 ounces baked ham, diced
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 bay leaves
2 19-ounce cans white
beans, rinsed and drained
2 14.5-ounce cans
reduced-sodium chicken
broth
2 cups chopped fresh
mustard greens
Salt and ground black pepper
4 tablespoons grated
Parmesan cheese

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, carrot and garlic and saute 3 minutes, until soft. Add ham and cook 2 minutes. Stir in thyme and bay leaves, then add beans and broth and bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat, partially cover and simmer 20 minutes. Remove and discard bay leaves.

Add mustard greens and simmer 1 minute, until greens wilt. Remove from heat and season to taste with salt and black pepper.

Ladle soup into bowls and top with Parmesan cheese.

Nutrition Score per serving (1 1/2 cups soup, 1 tablespoon cheese): 441 calories, 12% fat (6 g; 2 g saturated), 56% carbs (62 g), 32% protein (35 g), 15 g fiber, 302 mg calcium, 9 mg iron, 1,018 mg sodium.

more feb/mar '08

from Feb/Mar '08

pix from our garden

check the master gardener's calender monthly

http://abqmastergardeners.org/modules.php?name=Garden_Calendar

Watering. Watering is tricky in May. Small, new plants haven't yet developed enough roots to handle sudden hot weather and must be spot watered daily or as needed. Here's a trick to find out if a new transplant has "taken root:" About two weeks after setting out the plant, try tugging on it VERY, VERY gently; if you feel some resistance, it's roots have spread into the surrounding area and you can probably reduce watering.

If you have lawn sprinklers, check the spray pattern. Dry spots will tell you where adjustments are needed. Get it fixed now so you won't be over watering all summer just for a few dry spots.

• Plant beans, corn, cucumber, eggplant, melons, potatoes, pumpkins, peppers, squash, and tomatoes. Start some from seed and transplant the ones you started in February and March. And don't forget the chile!

pix from August '07

from Rita 4/28/9

I've turned on the soakers and then hand watered some of the lettuce that doesn't seem to be getting any moisture and I hand water the areas that we just planted - in the garlic area and the two middle sections. I spend about 30 minutes there. I also water the plants next to the porch, the starter plants on the little table and anything else in pots that's dry. It appears the dog walker is watering all the petunias. I watered the plants under the big tree today so they might be ok for a few days.

The main valve at the back of the yard stays on and the soaker hose valve gets turned on and off. The mail valve closer to the house gets turned on - one if soaker and the other is plain hose for hand watering.

from gardener's guild 5/6/9

we need to mulch this month after we get all our plants in.

From: info@gardenersguild.org
Date: Wed, 6 May 2009 13:53:58 -0400

With a possibility of 90 degrees this week, coping techniques to manage your plants and lessen your labor are key to bountiful results.
+ Lettuce and other cool weather varieties will be struggling to keep it together. To extend them into warmer temperatures, shade them now from almost all direct sun.

+ Be sure to mulch, or cover the soil from the sun, to reduce evaporation, maintain cool roots & reduce stress.

+ Plant in groupings when possible as plants protect and support each other.

+ Interplant varieties, with low growing snugged next to taller and branching edibles

+ And grow through all seasons, simply! When it seems July or August couldn't get any hotter, and the summer may never end, look forward to sowing seeds for September gardens that will grow through the cold months. Contact gardeners'guild with your planning questions and remember, summer will come to an end but the fun of gardening and rewards of creating your urban oasis will continue, over longhaul.

from Lora 5/10/09

Gardenistas!

Our garden is really blossoming. Beth stopped by this morning to plant some tomato plants - thank you Beth! She noticed that the red lettuce is ready for the plucking right now .... and some other things are already beginning to bolt (go to seed). Beth showed me how to tell when the garlic is ready to be pulled. I'll show you when we gather.

There is garlic and onions drying on the picnic table for anyone's pleasure. Please take it and make something delicious!

And a special hug to Deborah who just had surgery. We're hoping for a speedy recovery!!

xoxo Lora

5/15/09 old notes and weeds to watch out for

other weeds to watch out for: elm seed sprouts, grass, willow-leaf cottonwood shoots in the back left corner, those ones that are furry and have tiny thorns on the stems (wear gloves to pull!)

We need to fix the soaker hoses somehow!

If anyone helps Lora with watering, please remember to leave the round red handle on the spigot alone and only turn the valve for the specific hose parallel with the line to turn it on, and across the line to turn it off.

Another note on last year's tomatoes, in addition to an imperfect spot in the plot with tree roots and shade, the varying temperatures, cool spells and not hot enough, probably caused some overwatering.

A note on the garlic: there is no way we can stop watering that plot. Drying of the garlic in the ground, according to Amanda, is just to make the garlic last longer. It is not required.

there is lots of stuff growing, but if we concentrate on that one particular vining weed with the slightly oblong leaf, we will have plenty to do. this is the most invasive, insidious weed and we can leave things we are not sure about and see if they have any value for the garden later; most won't take over, but the vine one will!