Creasy Greens, love them! Can substitue for spinach.

Well after having healthy scrambled eggs this morning from our girls I had a pretty light food day, so I was starved at dinner. Poor planning on my part, I know! Breakfast sandwich was only 1 slice of whole wheat and only one egg scrambled. Normally I'd be at a two egg minimum, I mean seriously this is still American you know and I still have choices! LOL  For lunch from what I can remember I had roasted red bell pepper hummus/chips (not the healthy kind, my bad) and a cinnamon applesauce and sliced bananas. So I was starved by dinner. Anyway, I happened to pass a bag full of Creasy Greens at Cedar Lodge the other day and since they were the only bag left I couldn't resist. I've been eating Creasy greens since I was a really little girl. Shout out to Grandpa Hash for that one! But I think my mother's love of turnips is really what kicks creasy greens up a knotch for me! Here's how that party in a pan works out:

here's the bag of the lovlies..look at that vitamin rich GREEN

this is what the stem looks like which most are tender and you can eat them, but don't all the way down to the root (although you'll want to for sure)

a closer look at the green leaves

basically I fried up some bacon (just some as you can see) then peel your purple turnips and chop up...i pan fried the turnips in (some) the bacon drippings until tender with a pinch of kosher salt and cracked pepper

after I get all of the turnips cooked 'til tender I add the heaping (washed thoroughly) pile of creasy greens on top of the roasted turnips

toss it all together and put a lid on it to steam the greens down, but not too long I want the greens to still have the green/nutrition left in them

but right before that lid goes on, grab that bacon and crumbled it up and toss it back in with the turnips and creasy greens

turn down the burner because really you're only wilting the greens/tender stems

Well WHOOPS I'm missing a finished picture, mainly because they barely get to the table before this dish is gobbled up! Really they're that good! I did not know until today after looking creasy greens up that they had that much nutritional value in them. I also didn't know that you could eat them raw and are great in a salad. These greens are tender and are sweeter to me than some of the other winter greens. I also didn't know they are a winter green and grow through sub zero temps with little or no trouble even without protection. Creasy greens can be used in place of spinach. I can totally see this knowing how sweet the greens are to me. And definitely didn't know that it's available 3 seasons of the year and has 3 times the amount of vitamin C as oranges and twice as much vitamin A as broccoli according to www.localharvest.org 's product description

http://www.localharvest.org/upland-cress-creasy-greens-seed-C9734

(Barbarea verna BRASSICACEAE)

"Creasy greens" are an old favorite which are as easy to grow as spinach indoors or out, but is more cold tolerant than spinach. Produces rosettes of glossy, green leaves. These slow-bolting greens are popular in the South, and unprotected plants last all winter even in sub-freezing temperatures. Very easy to grow, even on clay soils. A highly nutritious green available 3 seasons of the year. Has 3 times the amount of vitamin C as oranges, and twice the amount of vitamin A as broccoli. Makes a nice topping for salads and can be used in quiche. 

 I copied and pasted for your convenience, but also pasted the link that goes directly to the seeds for purchase and their product description.

I had no idea all this time that they were this good for you! Grandpa Hash gets another brownie point for best Grandpa ever! Try and think about what vegetables that your Grandpa ate and served you as a kid and then look it up. You may be shocked as to how healthy some of those vegetables where?

ijustwannagrow

What's cookin? Collard greens!

There is NOTHING like collard greens! I really don't care how you prepare them, I love 'em! Tonight I made them a smidgen unconventional as I swapped them out in place of mustard greens to go with our turnips. Don't get me started on how much I love turnips! Raw or cooked!

Like I said I didn't have any frozen or fresh mustard greens on hand which is what I'd NORMALLY use, but unseasoned frozen collard greens worked just fine.

*4-6 cups of frozen collard greens (I used just 4 because we're a family of 3)
*1/2 cup of precooked & drained bacon strips (I don't buy those precooked bacon strips you can read a newspaper through that sit in a big yellow box on the corner of isles in the grocery store) I use my own precooked bacon.

The bacon strip pieces in that zip lock yes IN FACT came straight from my freezer. When I pull a pack of bacon out of my freezer I go ahead and cook an entire pack because I'm already using electricity. So I figure lets make it count and prep a future ingredient for a future meal! Bacon was cooked on a cookie sheet for a breakfast two weeks ago and had this remaining, so I let drain, cool, then ziplocked and froze. So tonight I opened the freezer and had my ingredient precooked and at my fingertips! It's all about thinking ahead. Had no idea what I'd use it for, but it was there.
*2 large turnips cut up to the size of your choice (if you're feeding several people cut them smaller)
* 3/4 of chicken stock (I used frozen homemade, but canned or boxed would work just fine)
* salt & pepper to taste, but taste first because bacon has plenty of sodium and rich chicken stock reduces the need for the salt

Basically I heat a pan, placed the frozen collard greens in the pan to dry them out of the ice a bit. Tossed in the precooked/drained and froze ahead bacon. Then tossed in the turnips, frozen chicken stock, and cracked pepper on top. Placed a lid on top of pan and cooked until turnips were tender. I stirred and flipped turnips over with a fork half way through, so they would cook through.


Finished product! We tore through that plate! And if I had a quality camera on hand instead of just my cell phone this would look as appetizing as it was at dinner. I barely cook the collards or mustard greens to keep them nice and dark green!!!!

How many wish their 3yr old would clean a plate of collards, turnips, meatloaf, & butter beans? Cook at home, you'll be suprised what you're kids will eat when you grow your vegetables and let them help cook!
My daughter will hardly eat at a restaurant, and at 2 1/2 she cried in a parking lot asking mommy to go home and eat at home. Melted my heart, but taught me a lesson!

ijustwannagrow