Cathy Katavich
Cathy's KITCHEN
Cathy received her culinary training at CIA, Culinary Institute of
America, at both Greystone (Napa) and Hyde Park, NY. She man-
aged Research and Development for Gilroy Foods and in the past ten
years she was involved in their frozen vegetable business, heading up
Business Development, Sales and Marketing.
Dark, Leafy Cooking Greens
Dark leafy greens are a versatile cold-weather ingredient! While other produce fades away, they are bountiful well into the
colder months. At this time of the year the grocery shelves are stocked with a huge variety of dark leafy greens. I have cooked
with many of them, including chard, spinach, broccoli rabe and bok choy but have never cooked with collard, turnip, mustard
greens or kale. These, apparently, are the scary greens, the ones shoppers think will be too strong, too aggressive and, most
likely, bitter. In fact, I had to admit that I didn’t know much about “greens”, except that they are all considered superfoods, and
that its mainly southerners who know how to cook them, especially collard greens! I am always in the mood for soups during
the often overcast, cold and rainy days of February so I looked for soup recipes that highlighted use of these versatile, nutrient
rich and deeply fl avored cold- weather ingredients.
Commonly Available History
Mild, tender quick-cooking greens
include spinach, chard, bok choy and
beet greens. More aggressive varieties
are collards, turnip, broccoli rabe,
mustard and dandelion greens. Kale
is somewhere in between. Many cooking greens, including kale
and collards are primitive, non-heading
cabbages. This explains the Latin name
Brassica oleracea, which means “with-
out a head”. These greens probably
descended from wild cabbages found in
Asia before recorded history. The Greeks
and Romans grew kale and collards in
domestic gardens over 2000 years ago.
The seeds eventually spread through
Europe and Africa and traveled to the
Americas by ship
It wasn’t until the first Africans arrived
in Jamestown, Virginia in the early
1600s that America got its first taste of
the dark green, leafy vegetable. Collard
greens were one of a few vegetables
that African-Americans could grow and
harvest for themselves and their families
throughout times of enslavement. Over
the years, recipes were developed that
made the greens taste fantastic and
ultimately developed into a traditional
food. Even after Emancipation, in the late
1800s, their love of greens continued,
and their well-developed repertoire of
greens recipes were handed down from
one generation to the next. This kind of
cooking eventually evolved into what we
know today as Soul Food, or low braised
greens with meat and legumes.
Greens are also grown and eaten
regularly in many countries across the
world. In Brazil, the side dish couve
Spinach, Chard, Beet Greens
These greens are very close botanically.
They cook quickly, are tender and
relatively sweet and in most cases can
be used interchangeably. Even though
chard stems are thick, they are still use-
ful in recipes. I like to remove the leaves
from the stalk, then dice the stalk and
cook it a few minutes before adding
the leaves to a dish.
Bok Choy and Choy Sum
Bok Choy has fl eshy white stems and
green leaves and is often used in stir
fries. Choy Sum looks like a miniature
Bok Choy and can be cooked whole.
Collards
These are huge, round, fl at leafed greens
with a thick, inedible stalk. They can
be assertive in fl avor, or milder than
kale depending on variety. They do take
longer to cook than the other greens,
usually 15 to 20 minutes and are
excellent in soups.
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Kale
Often used fresh in salads, but it’s most
common use is as a cooked green.
Its hearty fl avor is enjoyed in winter
soups, and it pairs especially well with
potatoes, beans and sausage. Kale
stems are thick and tough, so be sure
to remove before cooking, about 15 to
20 minutes. Kale has enjoyed fad status
in recent years, but it’s more than a
passing trend. Raw, it adds a pleasant
bite to salad and can also be stewed,
sautéed, or baked into addictively
crispy chips.
Mustard Greens
Feisty, with a hot, mustardy fl avor.
The leaves are tender and can be
cooked briefl y to retain the spicy fl avor
or can be cooked 20 minutes to soften
the fl avor. The stems and ribs are
usually tough and should be removed
before cooking.
Turnip Greens
Very assertive tasting with a rough
texture but can be delicious with a long
cooking time. time. Delicious when
combined with turnip roots in soups.
GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN
february/march 2019
gmhtoday.com