(Photo: Fresh mustard greens and chopped garlic)I can't tell you how many times I have gotten to the Farmers' Market too late to purchase mustard greens from Brines Farm. My hand practically jumped out to snatch the bag I saw on their table last Saturday. I did contain myself from "snatching" but very happily put my greens in my market bag already thinking about what I would do with them at home.
I actually ate a good third of the leaves raw (I shared some with my husband so he could taste them raw before I cooked them), enjoying the punchy taste, slightly bitter but not overwhelmingly so.I simply stir-fried them in a bit of olive oil with fresh sliced garlic and some roasted red peppers.
The leaves cook down a lot quite quickly, the whole bag was only two generous servings (of course I did eat quite a few raw before putting them in the pan!). The slightly bitter taste mellows out when cooked. It only has a little bite and was a perfect complement to baked fish and roasted potatoes with rosemary.Like other Brassica greens, these are a great source of vitamin C, A, E, folate, potassium, manganese, calcium, and are a downright powerhouse for vitamin K (one serving containing over 500% of the daily recommended dietary intake) for all those important blood clotting and bone building functions.
There has been some very preliminary research evaluating the role of vitamin K in type 2 diabetes, with supplementation of vitamin K1 (the type found in mustard greens) able to reduce insulin resistance in older men (but not older women).
"Effect of Vitamin K Supplementation on Insulin Resistance in Older Men and Women”
Authors: M. Yoshida, et. al., , Diabetes Care, November 2008, Volume 31, Pages 2092-2096.
I'm heading back next Saturday to see if I can get there early enough for some more! I want to save enough to add to a fresh green salad, so the bitter leaves can become an accent.
Where kale (and other Brassicas) are more than decoration on my plate!
Diana Dyer, MS, RD
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5 comments:
Hi Diana, This was a great post. I recently bought some mustard greens from a little veggie stall in our neighborhood thinking they were swiss chard. Imagine my surprise! (And mild embarrassment...) We ate them up without hesitation, though, and I'm looking forward to more.
And thanks for the emails checking in. I promise to write more soon to fill you in!
Hope all is well, and I'm going to get back to reading your blog!
Joan
I have that red mustard coming up all over my garden. It sure is pretty. I must have let a plant go to seed. I will have to try stir frying it with new garlic...
Diana, I have just recently discovered your refreshing website, and I also am a promoter of kale and all the crucifers. You don't have to wait to go to the market for the mustard greens. They are one of the easiest things to grow, and can begin harvesting outer leaves at about 3 weeks. I live in western Washington and just planted October 1 mustard greens along with two types of kale and three types of spinach. This is a much milder winter area than Michigan, so we will see how all do through the winter. Much compliments to a very nice website. Very nicely done....Don
Hi Don,
Thanks for finding my kale blog and posting a comment. My younger son teaches in Tukwila, WA near Seattle and recently planted his fall/winter kale crop in the little bit of land he has taken over for gardening in the courtyard of his apartment complex. So far the building manager has said 'ok', and the residents in the building look out for and admire his little garden. I think I even have a pix of him cooking up a stir-fry with kale somewhere on my other blog www.dianadyer.com. :-) Glad you also enjoy all things 'kale'!
Just found your website...lovely!!! Recently discovered mustard greens..whoa! When I eat it raw I get a nose burn similar to when I eat wasabi...it's fantastic!
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