June 18, 2013 - Morning Song Farm

If you’ve never tried mustard greens, large box subscribers may have found their new best friend. Popular in Chinese, Japanese and Indian cooking, mustard greens have only rarely found themselves in US restaurants until recently. Related to kale, cabbage and collard greens, they are packed with nutritional value. See link here: http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid;=93
The leafy green originated in the Himalayas and has been consumed for 5,000 years, just not much in the U.S. until recently. Part of the recent interest in mustard greens is the cholesterol lowering ability and cardiovascular support of the raw or cooked leafy green. The link above goes into a great deal more detail of how that works for those that are interested.

Rinse leaves under cold running water and cut into chunks for quick and even cooking. Let them sit out of your refrigerator for 5 minutes before cooking, which helps activate healthy enzymes. Slice celery on the diagonal, and toss in the pan along with your greens.

In a medium saucepan, boil a quarter cup of water or broth and add mustard greens and sliced celery. Cover for 5 minutes or until tender. Toss with a tablespoon of olive oil or coconut oil, a crushed garlic clove, a splash of lime juice, sea salt, pepper and serve at once.

This is where having a Vitamix at the ready really comes in handy, although a lesser mixer will probably do the trick, just not quite as smoothly.

Ingredients:
1 medium white onion, chopped
About 6 ribs of celery, coarsely chopped
3 cloves of garlic, crushed before putting in blender
1 tablespoon coconut oil or olive oil
2 small potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 teaspoon of salt
dash of hot sauce (I use Frank’s)

Procedure:
Sauté onion, celery, garlic and potato in oil until soft, taking care not to use too high a heat that might result in browning. Put the equivalent of 2 cups of water in crushed ice in your blender, and add your finished, sautéed mixture. Blend until smooth and serve. Add a little more chilled water if the end result isn’t liquid enough, stirring thoroughly.

Another quick and tasty side dish from Morning Song Farm. I dumped the entire bag of this weeks’ braising mix in my largest sauté pan and chipped maybe a tablespoon or so of coconut oil into the pan to melt. I added a couple crushed garlic cloves, sliced up a few green onions, and added mushrooms, sea salt and ground pepper. Also a few strong splashes of hot sauce.

I use a counter top rice cooker for brown rice and other grains, and usually have it going every morning to add to some dish or another. So I already had the rice cooked, and waiting. I love the aroma of coconut oil and leafy greens in my kitchen. And although coconut oil is very mild, it does have a tropical taste that I enjoy. When the greens were almost done, I just stirred in the brown rice, and served immediately. I made more than I needed, and made up single serving portions and put in the refrigerator for lunches and healthy snacks. I tried it both reheated and chilled and served as a salad, right out the refrigerator, and they both are tasty.