Saturday, March 12, 2011

What to do with creasy greens? -or- My Polyface eggs love affair comes to an end

This winter, I got a share in Farm-to-Family's CSA. They're a Richmond-based coop that recently started driving their bus up to DC to bring us delicious farm goodness! I was only able to do 2 pick-ups due to travel, etc. but the two I got were fantastic! This last one, especially, was a winter's bounty. Turnips, squash, mushrooms, apples, potatoes, bibb lettuce, kale, and creasy greens. Last time around, I got the most amazing Polyface Farms (of Omnivore's Dilemma fame), one of which you saw in the last post.

I had *no* idea what to do with creasy greens, and apparently neither did google or any of my facebook friends (okay, google had a few suggestions, but they all seemed to include ham hock. Ick.). Raw, they have a really delayed spiciness...kind of like if you combined watercress and horseradish. I decided (mostly because I was only cooking for myself) to cook off the cuff. Here's what I did:

Sauteed ~1 cup sliced onions until tender. Added the greens (2 bunches, chopped into 3 inch long pieces with the thicker stems removed) and a touch of water, sauteed until wilted. Finished with a splash of red wine vinegar, salt and pepper. I served the greens over Israeli couscous dressed with a tiny bit of olive oil and topped it all with my last, delicious Polyface egg. I really hoped to have a good picture for you guys, but, as usual, I screwed up and ended up breaking the yolk, so it's a bit of a mess.

But...yum! The greens were much less harsh cooked, and really were fairly indistinguishable from spinach in texture and taste. And if you haven't ever had a fried egg over pasta and greens, I totally recommend it because it's amazing. Of course, I'm partial to yolk, esp. local yolk (say that 3 times fast!) but still.

I ended up eating all the greens (read: 2 entire plants) in one sitting, but I figured it was okay because a) they cook down a lot and b) it's totally okay to overeat when it's on greens.

Sadly, I won't be able to do F2F this spring due to logistical issues, but I highly recommend it if you're looking for a CSA in the DC area! Suzi and Mark are super nice, and I think it's one of the best deals around.

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