I agree, I think the key is young greens (in the sense of picked young).

Old collards have big, tough leaves and aren't that good compared to "baby"
collards.

I don't eat the stems of kale and collards though. I eat the stems from
chard (delish).

The southern way of preparing collards includes vinegar which some insist
moderates the bitterness of old collard.

With broccoli, the best part is the stem with the outer tough husk cut away.
The inner stem is delicious.

I cook greens two ways:

1. fast stir fried at very high temperature
2. braised leisurely for a long time

and they are different each way

--Richard

----- Original Message -----
From: "matesz" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, November 17, 2000 6:58 PM
Subject: [P-F] Veggie of the week: celery root


> ginny wilken said:
> >>Boy, Rachel; you must be getting some really old, nasty collards! I
could
> eat them raw, and always just steam or stir-fry them for a couple of
> minutes - just long enough to wilt. Occasionally I'll save the bottoms of
> the stems for juice or to puree for my dog, but I don't have any trouble
> eating them cooked with the leaves.
>
> The kale and collard greens I get are not OLD.  They are fresh picked the
> day of the Farmers' market.  They are usually very large with firm, often
> thick stems.  Over the past 12 or more years, I have had cooking students
> who tried just steaming kale or collards and found them bitter--not bitter
> like coffee or dandelion greens, but more bitter than foods they were used
> to eating.  When they tried them only steamed briefly, some found them
hard
> to digest--gas promoting.
>
> Kale, collards, and broccoli, have well developed stems; these highly
> nutritious greens are very hardy.  This fibrous structure is part of the
> plant's protective mechanism and may deter predators.  It also helps the
> plants stay upright during rough weather.  From all that I have read, the
> cooking process can be beneficial for some foods, for breaking open the
cell
> wall so that the goodies (nutrients) are more accessible.  The nutrients
are
> locked up in the plants cell, they are less bio-available to animals such
as
> humans who cannot digest cellulose.  Cooking breaks open the envelope,
> releasing the nutrients.
>
> There are studies which have shown that the betacarotene and lycopene
> absorption, is greater when carrots or tomatoes are cooked, than when
> consumed raw.  Similarly, some studies have shown that the vitamic C
> delivery into the blood stream is greater for cooked than raw vegetables.
> When cooked or consumed with fats, lyocpene and betacarotene absorptions
are
> also enhanced.    I am not suggesting cooking vegetables beyond
recognition
> or to the grey, wimply, water logged stage.  Rather, cooking until tender
> and easily eaten and digested.
>
> Steaming requires a relatively high heat.  One can steam a vegetable
briefly
> at a high temperature, or simmer it slowly and longer and a lower
> temperature.  They key is not to let it turn dingy grey.
>
> In my experience, sauteed, melt in your mouth hardy greens are more
pleasant
> than briefly cooked, crisp tender kale or collards. My students have, over
> the years, prefered greens I or my husband made this way and could not get
> over the difference.  We eat the stems, altough, like some broccoli, the
> bottom parts can at times be "woody," so one might  need to discard a
> portion of the stems.  We eat the cooked stems with the leaves.  The
> variation in flavor of the stems can be marked, depending upon the season
> and weather.  The sweetest stems, as I mentioned, are found after the
first
> frost when the freezing does something to the sugars in the greens.
>
> Note:  The size and age of the plant makes a difference.  Tender immature
> mustard greens are mild and pleasant, even when raw, whereas older, larger
> ones often taste better to me when cooked.
>
> The soil in Toledo is not as rich as the soil in Seattle, Washington,
where
> I lived for many years, nor is it as good as much of the soil in Ann
Arbor,
> Michigan, where Don and I lived for a time. The kale, collards, kabocha,
> buttercutp, sweet dumpling, and hokaido squash we got there was far and
away
> more flavorful and sweeter than the same vegetables we have gotten in
> Toledo.  The soil here is deficient in selenium, I am told, and surely
other
> things.  Nevertheless, the broccoli I get fresh picked, locally grown but
> not organic, from the farmers' market here in Toledo looks and tastes
better
> than supermarket broccoli.  If looks great after 5 days in the fridge and
> looks and tastes even better than the old, tired shipped in organic
broccoli
> we often see in the health food store.   (Sometimes the organic shipped in
> broccoli looks good, but not always.
>
> I choose locally grown, non-organic as much as possible to support local
> growers and get the freshest produce.  In the winter I resort to health
food
> store and supermarket produce, and do find decent kale and collards at the
> health food store, though I pay a lot more for it.
>
> Rambling again, but catching up on digests,
>
> Rachel