Preserving the Harvest

It is that time of the season when there are plenty of greens to harvest. There's mizuna, kale (3 varieties), mustard (two varieties), collards, vitagreens and swiss chard. It is impossible to eat them all within one week so here's a way to eat what you can and preserve the rest: freezing.

 

These instructions and the recipe are from the Root Connection recipe file here:

http://rootconnection.com/rec-greens.html

FREEZING GREENS

Remove stems and cut or tear greens into large pieces. Put in a large pot with 2 inches of water. Cover, bring to a boil. Quickly stir greens until they are all wilted. Take off heat. With a slotted spoon, remove greens to another bowl to cool. Save liquid from cooking and let cool.

When cool enough, put greens into a zip-lock bag. Then pour some of the reserved liquid over greens in the bag to 1/2 inch from the top. Close the bag and put inn freezer. (When doing several bags, space them out in the freezer until frozen.) To serve, remove frozen greens and liquid, heat slowly in covered pot, then season and cook to desired consistency.

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RITA'S SPICY GREENS

4 cups chopped greens (spinach, kale, chard, etc.) 8 oz. mushrooms, sliced 2 Tbsp. corn starch 1/4 cup brown sugar 1/2 cup cider vinegar 2 Tbsp. soy sauce

1 Tbsp. fresh ginger, minced 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 tsp. red pepper flakes 1/2 cup water 12 oz. spaghetti

Cook spaghetti according to package directions. Meanwhile, heat a large pan or wok. Add greens and cook for 4 minutes. Add mushrooms and cook 2 minutes more. Mix together corn starch, brown sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, pepper flakes, and water. Add to pan. Stir to boil and thicken. Serve over pasta.