What to do with the current glut of greens, and lettuce...?
Right now we have so much salad and greens of all kinds to eat. I love it, but like the post about the eggs, sometimes you have to plan well to get through it all. I thought I'd share what I've been cooking, but I'd love more ideas. I'm sure I'm not the only one right now if there are gardeners here!
Lettuce obviously goes into lots of salad, but I started really loading up my sandwiches too. Obvious, but it never occurred to me until recently.
Greens I saute with garlic and red pepper and use in omelettes and soup. I also put them on toast with an egg or some cheese. I also stir-fry the greens with meat and serve with rice. Last night I made a lasagne and added a layer of greens in there too.
Well, that's sounding pretty limited. More suggestions welcome!!
Comments
-
@Megan Venturella have you tried green smoothies yet?
Or you can have wraps with greens and some cheese, falafel or meat.
-
I can literally eat greens every meal... especially seasoned with fat back! But, olive oil is nice, too. Smoked pork or turkey is always good. Sometimes some broth (but usually not).. maybe some dried hot peppers. I love a fresh salad every day for lunch, too.... especially with boiled eggs and sardines or smoked fish, olives or capers... garlic and cheese! Have you tried French style lettuce soups? That is a great way to use 2-4 heads of lettuce at a time. You can do a variety of lettuce soups, with chicken broth or cream - anything you like. THe lettuce cooks down dramatically and had a very good flavor. Also, many greens can be turned into kraut or kimchi - not just cabbage.
-
Ditto on blanching... we freeze tons of collards, mustard and turnips around here!
-
I have a lovely set of wire shelving I use as a drying rack in front of a very large window. A great place to dry greens for winter use. Once dehydrated they take very little storage space especially when they are powdered. Makes it easy to get greens into those who are not so fond of them. I generally steam blanch them first to remove some of the anti nutrients. This also speeds up the drying.
-
Such great ideas! I have some ham hocks right now, I'll try that. And it never occurred to me to dry them. I've never even heard of lettuce soup, but I'll look it up! I like the wrap idea too.
-
I like greens (spinach, Swiss chard, beet greens, etc.) stir fried a bit and served with a balsamic glaze.
-
Juice the greens and freeze in ice cube trays. The green cubes are great to add to smoothies, soup, gravy, etc.
-
I saw a post about dehydrating lettuce but can't remember where.
-
What are the best greens to freeze? What are The ones to avoid?
-
The brassicas freeze well - mustard, kale, collards, turnips, etc. Spinach and similar plants do fine. Lettuces are too tender, unless you plan to use them for soup - then, no problem.... they will be mush either way.
-
Thank you sir.
-
That all sounds great! I hope I have a glut soon. 😁
-
I dry the excess in a dehydrator, then grind into a powder, ready to use in soups and dishes.The drying process is really quick, so a lot can be done in a day. Keep the powder in a sealed container - it lasts quite a while.
-
@judsoncarroll4 I have never heard of lettuce soups. I get so many great ideas from the grow network. It is truly amazing.
-
@dipat2005 I made some lettuce soup after @judsoncarroll4 mentioned it. It was good!
-
IT really is, and lettuce soup picks up herb flavors really well! Another great recipe is to wrap fish (seasoned and ready for the oven) in several layers of lettuce leaves and bake or barbecue it.
-
We don’t eat bread so we wrap most things in lettuce. The down. Is we can only grow it in the winter as our summers are to hot. I have not mastered the larger head lettuces, but I can grow leaf lettuce like crazy. Never heard of lettuce soup. Need to check that one out.
-
My Sicilian grandmother made a dish we called "S'getti Soup" that is a great way to use up a lot of greens, including romaine or other dark lettuces. She typically used flat leaf escarole, but I have used Tendergreen (spinach-mustard mix), romaine, chard, kale, etc.
Cook spaghetti until al dente, toss with olive oil and set aside. Saute roughly chopped greens in generous amount of olive oil with plenty of chopped fresh, peeled garlic. Add enough water or mild stock for the number of servings you want. Add in the sautéed greens and simmer until they are as tender as you prefer (Sicilians like them SOFT). Add salt, black pepper to taste. Gram always doused with a little more EVOO. Stir in cooked noodles and simmer just to get everything hot. Serve immediately.
AND FYI, in order to access the nutrition in the leafy greens, that oil is necessary! It breaks the cell wall, allowing you to assimilate the goodness.
-
for leafy greens (not lettuce, but like Kale/chard/collards), you can also blanch and dehydrate to use in the winter!
-
U will never know how necessary this thread is at my house-the lettuce piled up suddenly, mainly gifts, and I am quite at a loss, but it is the 'lighter heads', blanch and freeeze? Dehydrate? I must get busy with this! Smoothies r my thing, and soups also, perhaps I will have a sure supply for the year now! Wow!
-
@Nancy A.Maurelli Wow, I think my whole family will love that!! I started growing mizuna as well and I think it would taste amazing cooked that way!
-
I got a large amount of greens in this week's CSA box. When I was looking up cooking the beets in my IP, I was also looking up ways to cooks the greens. Here's a link to an Epicurious article:
Now, I need to look up pat a pan squash. That came in the box, too.
-
Love it!!!!
-
One idea that I got somewhere is make pesto with it! So instead of using basil, use greens and then use it just like regular pesto! I think I got it from the Prairie Homestead Cookbook -
-
Well, now I know what to do with my lettuce glut. Thank you! As someone else said, it's amazing what I learn on these forums.
This Week's Leaders
Categories
- All Categories
- 34 Our Front Porch Welcome! (Please Read Before Posting)
- 56 Introductions & Region-Specific Discussions
- 341 Educational Opportunities & Resources
- 452 Current Events & Breaking News
- 47 Emergency/Disaster Preparedness & Resiliency
- 1.3K Our Garden: Growing Food
- 1.7K Our Apothecary: Natural & Home Medicine
- 508 The Back 40: Animal Husbandry & Harvesting
- 38 The Bush: Wild Game and Survival
- 517 Our Kitchen Table: Food Prep
- 391 The Homestead: DIY
- 1.2K Personal Journals
- 103 The General Store: Sell, Buy, & Barter