How do you eat your greens?

[mom61508]

I can't do green smoothies I've been trying but they are making me so nauseas!

I've been sauteing collards or kale usually in butter, sea slat and garlic. I need more ideas though otherwise I'll get bored and stop eating them.

Also is there concern about cooking greens at a high temp killing the nutrients?

[deditus]

Originally Posted by mom61508

I can't do green smoothies I've been trying but they are making me so nauseas!

I've been sauteing collards or kale usually in butter, sea slat and garlic. I need more ideas though otherwise I'll get bored and stop eating them.

Also is there concern about cooking greens at a high temp killing the nutrients?

I just do my greens in a bit of lard and garlic, then toss in chopped greens and bone broth. I believe that cooking them well breaks down the fiber and makes the minerals MORE available. Cooking probably significantly harms some vitamins (like c) but when I eat collards or kale, I am going for minerals, so I cook well.
Other than that, romaine has a great nutrient profile and is pretty tasteless in a smoothie or juice (lots of folate!).

[raksmama]

Lebanese style: Greens like chard,spinach,dandalion greens or kale lightly sauteed in garlic and olive oil with a little bit of lemon juice poured on in the end.

[mum4boys]

Originally Posted by jalilah

Lebanese style: Greens like chard,spinach,dandalion greens or kale lightly sauteed in garlic and olive oil with a little bit of lemon juice poured on in the end.

Yum!

[Koalamom]

Green smoothies are so yummy and I can never taste the greens. Would you share how you are making them and perhaps we can help to mend it? And Nettles infusions is great in smoothies too.

I usually steam our greens over stir frying them. I hope to preserve some nutrients that way but still cook it too.

We have greens everyday. The way we don't get bored of them, is we rotate and try many new greens.
One raw green in a smoothie in the morning, and either a salad or a steam green later in the day.

Beet greens
arugula
Mustard greens
Collards
Turnip greens
Kale (different types)
dandelion
swiss chard
spinach
lettuce
mesclune mix
peas
green beans
radish greens
parsley
cabbage (I have yet to try this in a smoothie)
Wild edibles like violet greens, chickweed, yum!!
the list goes on. Get all them at the store and make a goal to use a different one everyday.

My dh is so picky when it comes to adding something as crazy as greens to a perfectly good smoothie, but he devours it every time as it is unnoticeable. I don't have a fancy blender either, and it blends up well.

Kale chips are so good and my dd will eat a whole bunch worth in about ten minutes.

[liliaceae]

[IsaFrench]

I can only cope with fresh spinash in my smoothie

when I run out of fresh spinash leaves, I don't know what to use

do you think that the dehydated seaweeds I get from the health food store would do in a smoothie ?

I also try to take the time to prepare a mixed salad every day (lemon juice, mustard, oil for dressing, plus one (cut up very small) clove of fresh garlic in it -I do it for my gut, I've had to stop ACV and quite a few things for my gut problems); any salad green I have, plus either raw fennel, and /or grated carrots, red peppers, cucumber + left over steam vegetables from the day before (that can be, green beens, or brocoli, or cauliflower ...)

I steam my vegetables too because it's quicker and easier.
My children are so picky so I get upset when I spend a lot of time sauteeing and thinking of a sauce (tomatoe or lemon based, or cream based) and they still don't want any ....

I try to make soup twice a week too (so that it's my own "family-style fast food" can be re-heated any time and fast, with a dollop of fresh cream in it); I like zucchini best, but also pumpkin .... and when I haven't been to the market I use a ready made bag of frozen "vegetables for soup", not so tasty but last time I added some sort of frozen chives I still had in the freezer and it was better tasting ...

usually I don't particulary like vegetables so I've had to think of ways to incorporate them in the menus ... week-ends are hardest, because we tend to try to do too many things and menu planning takes a back seat, we'll eat less healthily....

[IsaFrench]

I can only cope with fresh spinash in my smoothie

when I run out of fresh spinash leaves, I don't know what to use

do you think that the dehydated seaweeds I get from the health food store would do in a smoothie ?

I also try to take the time to prepare a mixed salad every day (lemon juice, mustard, oil for dressing, plus one (cut up very small) clove of fresh garlic in it -I do it for my gut, I've had to stop ACV and quite a few things for my gut problems); any salad green I have, plus either raw fennel, and /or grated carrots, red peppers, cucumber + left over steam vegetables from the day before (that can be, green beens, or brocoli, or cauliflower ...)

I steam my vegetables too because it's quicker and easier.
My children are so picky so I get upset when I spend a lot of time sauteeing and thinking of a sauce (tomatoe or lemon based, or cream based) and they still don't want any ....

I try to make soup twice a week too (so that it's my own "family-style fast food" can be re-heated any time and fast, with a dollop of fresh cream in it); I like zucchini best, but also pumpkin .... and when I haven't been to the market I use a ready made bag of frozen "vegetables for soup", not so tasty but last time I added some sort of frozen chives I still had in the freezer and it was better tasting ...

usually I don't particulary like vegetables so I've had to think of ways to purposefully incorporate them in the menus ... week-ends are hardest, because we tend to try to do too many things and menu planning takes a back seat, we'll eat less healthily....

[ursusarctos]

Ditto sauteed with garlic in olive oil or butter. Mostly though I chop them and put them in soup or sauces. Especially beet greens add amazing depth and flavor to soup. And I also don't worry about cooking them too much because I'm also going for the minerals.

[mom61508]

Originally Posted by bluebirdmama1

Green smoothies are so yummy and I can never taste the greens. Would you share how you are making them and perhaps we can help to mend it? And Nettles infusions is great in smoothies too.

I usually steam our greens over stir frying them. I hope to preserve some nutrients that way but still cook it too.

We have greens everyday. The way we don't get bored of them, is we rotate and try many new greens.
One raw green in a smoothie in the morning, and either a salad or a steam green later in the day.

Beet greens
arugula
Mustard greens
Collards
Turnip greens
Kale (different types)
dandelion
swiss chard
spinach
lettuce
mesclune mix
peas
green beans
radish greens
parsley
cabbage (I have yet to try this in a smoothie)
Wild edibles like violet greens, chickweed, yum!!
the list goes on. Get all them at the store and make a goal to use a different one everyday.

My dh is so picky when it comes to adding something as crazy as greens to a perfectly good smoothie, but he devours it every time as it is unnoticeable. I don't have a fancy blender either, and it blends up well.

Kale chips are so good and my dd will eat a whole bunch worth in about ten minutes.

For my gr smoothie I usually do kale or romaine, coconut juice or water,banana, some type of berry, and whatever supps I want to add. But I do have many other variations I used to do. It just isn't agreeing with me right now. I need to venture out with my greens for sure! And I jsut ordered a pound of nettles, can't wait! I love kale chips but dont' you need a dehydrator?

Great ideas ladies! Thank you

[JMJ]

I pick out a different type of organic greens every week at the grocery store, some I've never heard of. I saute it in ghee and then dump in eggs (sometimes garlic) for a nice mixed scramble. Top that with some raw cheddar and flax seed, and serve on whole wheat sourdough bread, and you've got my breakfast.

[raksmama]

Originally Posted by jalilah

Lebanese style: Greens like chard,spinach,dandalion greens or kale lightly sauteed in garlic and olive oil with a little bit of lemon juice poured on in the end.

I forgot to mention that Ds12 still doesn't like them this way. For him I still have to sneak the greens by chopping them finely and adding them to stews, spaghetti sauce,chilli and even chicken soup. Thank god he'll eat steamed broccoli on its' own!

[Mother Cake]

I do greens with other veggies--steamed or sauted--just put them in a mixed veggie dish and they aren't so noticeable IMO. I haven't quite gotten up the courage for a "full" green smoothie, but I have been adding a leaf or two to my fruit smoothies. I also try to get salads regularly, for the folate (destroyed in cooking), but I put on quite a bit of dressing, and add things like carots, beets, avacado, olives, cheese, nuts, seeds, to mask the bitter taste. HTH!

I have discovered that DH likes salads with lots of dressing, or steamed greens with soy sauce/Bragg's Aminos best.

[Koalamom]

Originally Posted by mom61508

For my gr smoothie I usually do kale or romaine, coconut juice or water,banana, some type of berry, and whatever supps I want to add. But I do have many other variations I used to do. It just isn't agreeing with me right now. I need to venture out with my greens for sure! And I jsut ordered a pound of nettles, can't wait! I love kale chips but dont' you need a dehydrator?

Great ideas ladies! Thank you

Your smoothie ingredients sound pretty good so it could be the supplments extra that make an off flavor or could be the coconut. I feel horrible when I have coconut milk so I just avoid it. Not sure how that effects a smoothie.

Our smoothie this morning was amazing. Here is what it had:
For portion it was for an 8 cup blender capacity filled to the top
-2-3 cups nettles infusion
-roughly 3-4 cups greens (we used a spring baby green mix, but with kale for sure use less greens since they are strong) Blend this now if you have a crappo blender like me
-3 tablespoons chia seeds
-3 teaspoons camu camu powder (amazonian berry super food for natural Vit C and bioflavanoids
-1/2 cup really raw soaked almonds (we don't always add this, or may add some other nuts like cashews. Sunflower seeds are strong so go easy on them)
-2 bananas (only organic as non org ones make me feel sick. The riper the better. If the bananas aren't very ripe it may create an off flavor, and you may need some sweetener. We use maple syrup)
3 cups frozen berries (we are loving wild frozen blueberries lately)

Blend well!

Dh adds raw eggs to his, and I like a tablespoon of Lewis Labs brewers yeast in mine

[tanyalynn]

Originally Posted by bluebirdmama1

Kale chips are so good and my dd will eat a whole bunch worth in about ten minutes.

Can you describe more about how you make kale chips?

[JElaineB]

If I'm making some kind of soup or stew I tend to throw some greens in them. I put a few cups of spinach leaves in a chicken lentil stew I made this weekend, for example.

[Koalamom]

Originally Posted by tanyalynn

Can you describe more about how you make kale chips?

Cheesy kale chips - high in calcium w/o oxalates, and nutritional yeast for b vites. I'm also waiting on a sample of the Lewis labs brewers yeast, which is more rounded on the b vites (less riboflavin, higher others. I have mixed feelings) and has the legendary gtf chromium. Anyway, make a sauce out of the yeast, adding soaked cashews (or whatever) for body, and seasoning for interest (red pepper, or thai seasonings including lime or whatever) toss kale in it - the curly leaves are best - then dehydrate/bake as low as you can until they're dried out and crispy. There were also some chocolate/mole flavor that were yummy, but they didn't have the yeasty vitamins.

quote taken from best thread here

Here is what I did-
I ground up sunflower seeds, and mixed it with brewers yeast, dulse flakes, and braggs liquid aminos (now that we aren't using this anymore, I have got to figure out what to replace it with), and made a weak paste with water and tossed the kale, dehydrated, and we cant stop eating them.

[Kelilah]

Greens are my favorite! I do them Southern-style most of the time. Wash the greens, chop them roughly, slice up a turnip or kohlrabi if I have it on hand, and chop up just a little bit of onion or garlic. Saute the onion/garlic in a bit of olive oil, throw in the turnip/kohlrabi and saute a minute more, throw in the greens, toss around for a minute until they turn bright. Then I pour on a splash of apple cider vinegar, toss it around again until it's mostly absorbed, and then pour in just enough water or broth to cover the bottom of the skillet and cook a few minutes more until the greens are tender. I also tend to add hot pepper, either dried or pickled, or hot sauce for a kick.

Of course this is for heavier greens like collards, kale, kohlrabi greens, raab of all kinds, etc. Lighter greens like spinach, I toss into soups or omelettes, or have raw in salads or on sandwiches.

[Magelet]

I do the most of my greens sauted with garlic and/or onion, olive oil or other fat, and sea salt (kale and chard usually get a dash of white wine vinegar too.)

Chard is scrumptious cooked in with some white wine, but being underage, I don't cook with wine much

spinach, I don't love cooked too much, however I made it the other day, I sauted lots of minced garlic and some salt in olive oil until golden and a little crunchy, added the spinach, and as soon as it had wilted, took it out, and mixed in almonds which had been soaked, dehydrated, and then chopped. it was so good!

I also love greens tossed into soup.

[ginnybee]

these sound great! We have been slacking on the greens lately, since taking a break from our csa (newborn + kitchen-phobic DH). Here's my two-cents:
Last week we made "eggs in a nest" from Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. It is a beautiful, yummy dinner. The recipe is available on the book's website.
I'm a southern girl, so my favorite way to eat greens is cooked with a ham hock! That is one of the only from-scratch dishes my mom taught me to cook. Sauté onion in bacon grease. Add a bunch of washed greens + ham hock or smoked turkey neck if available. Add water if needed. Cook until wilted. If there's smoked meat involved, you may want to simmer it before adding greens - then you'll have the flavor but won't have to cook the greens to death. I love cabbage and esp. turnip greens this way. I always eat with spicy pickled pepper vinegar.
Most nights, though we do quick-sauté/steam w/ garlic & evoo. Chard and beet greens I prefer w/ butter and maybe some onion. We have fresh chard in our garden and it is crazy-good - my kids inhale it if cooked fresh and sprinkled with a bit of sea salt.

I haven't tried green smoothies, bit used to juice wheatgrass and parsley. I had to add apple juice to make it palatable, but at the time it was the only way I could get greens into my toddler. Anyone do wheatgrass? Do the benefits outweigh the apple juice?