Eat your greens

■ Storing

Don’t wash greens before storing them – too much moisture encourages the leaves to rot. Use per forated plastic storage bags, which allow air to circulate around the leaves and maintain just enough moisture to preserve their crispness.

■ Preparation

Soak in cold water and then rinse thoroughly just before cooking to release any dirt trapped in stems or crinkly leaves.

Trim any bruised outer leaves and cut of f tough stems.

 

Greens can be simply tossed in butter over a high heat until just wilted, then sprinkled with a little grated nutmeg, which takes the edge off any coarseness in the flavour.

 

 

Like fresh spinach leaves, beetroot greens are tender, cook quickly and have a mild flavour. Add a little olive oil to a frying pan and cook them covered using just the water on the rinsed leaves. Add garlic, ground cumin or a good dash of Tabasco for flavour.

 

 

Comes in several varieties with leaves that are crinkly, serrated, or feathery. Kale comes in tones of blue-green, reddish purple, grey-green or light green. Kale leaves tend to be quite tough – they need braising for 12 to 15 minutes.

 

These pack a hot punch, especially if simmered for less than 15 minutes. Longer cooking mellows the flavour. They’re an excellent complement to Asian pork dishes with a rich sauce. Ginger, soy sauce and toasted sesame seeds are all good matches.

 

It’s sometimes confused with spinach, with which it is interchangeable. However, silverbeet has an ear thier taste. The leaves can be blanched, sautéed, steamed or stir-fried. The wide stem, or rib, which comes in vivid red, yellow or a bright white, can be chopped and sautéed in oil or butter. The stems take a little longer to cook than the leaves.

 

This popular green comprises several rounded and spiked tender leaves jutting from slender stems. The delicious peppery flavour becomes more pungent with age. Rocket can be eaten raw in salads and can also be added at the last minute to stir-fries, barely requiring any cooking.