Collard greens......what i had to do....

[annieH]

For years I have been trying to make myself like raw collards and kale....i just cant get into them. I cant get into the green smoothies either. 2 days ago...i made the marinated collard ribbons but i STILL didnt like the taste.

well.... I had HUGE bowl of collard ribbons and i did the only thing i could think of to do......i put them into the food processor with garlic and spices and flax seeds and blended everything to fairly fine puree.

Then i put them on the dehydrator sheets and tomorrow they will be collard and flax crackers.
Honestly...i am embarrased.....i didnt know what else to do.
I know everyone seems to like these greens raw.... i just cant seem to get into any of them.
So.... i guess my question is.... will i get any of the green benefit from the collard...now that its going to be a cracker? LOL!

I feel really stupid.....but i just cant make this collard/kale thing work ....maybe i would like mustard greens....i havent tried them yet.
who knows.

[Autumn]

Where do you get your collards from and how big are the leaves? I ask because I *hate* store bought, huge-leaved collards. We grow our own and pick them when the leaves are quite small (no bigger than my hand) and tender and it makes all the difference in the world to me! The big leaves seems so tough and bitter and the young, small leaves are nearly sweet (especially after a frost!) and nice and soft.

I think that was pretty ingenious of you to put them in your crackers! :D

[annieH]

yes...i get mine at the store and they are huge....but they are organic. I am sure that if they were cooked they would taste fabulous as i am a BIG fan of sloooow cooked collard greens with all the seasonings.
But... thats the SAD world now...not mine.
I am sure the ones from your garden are wonderful. I will keep an eye out for the young ones.

I wonder if my green crackers will give me the green benefit the marinated ribbons would have.

[Autumn]

Well, I couldn't say for sure, but I don't see why not!

[angelandarose]

I am not a fan of kale/collards either and mustard greens are HOT like radish greens. I have a hard time with this stuff too. I have been sticking to Romain when I buy it in the store. Right now I have a garden full of lettus so I've not bought store bought in weeks.

I'd like to find a secret too to eating the stronger tasting leafy foods.

Love,
Angie

[Carlene]

I'm right with you on the kale/collards thing. Yesterday I bought every green I haven't tried so I could find some that appealed to me. So far, except for Romaine, I found some that were tolerabe, but none that I love. I hunt my salad for cucumbers and celery. I'll try a new batch tonight. I didn't know mustard greens were hot, they are in tonight's salad. I'm hoping I'll like the broccolli rabbi (?). If there is any other solution besides smooties out there, I'd like to know too.

[sweetgoddess]

The secret to liking the stronger greens is growing your own, truly, if you can do so, go for it, greens are VERY easy to grow. They taste totally different as baby greens then as overly mature leaves that you find at the grocers. It also makes a world of difference in the taste how they are grown. Example, the more you water, the milder the flavour. Also, a lot of greens, probably those at the stores are repicked a few times, each picking will be stronger in flavour. ANother thing that effects the taste is when they are grown. A lot of green leafy plants like cooler weather, and even shade. If grown out of that range they develop a bitter taste. If you let them freeze and then thaw they are so sweet and yummy.

I thought I hated all these things too until I grew my own. I was amazed at the difference. If you dont want to grow your own, how about connecting with a farmer at a farmers market? They can pick them as baby greens for you.

As for mustards--again-the bigger they are picked the hotter they are. But there are a ton of varieties. Some arent hot at all and are yum.

good luck with those greens. The ones at the supermarket are not a good representative at all.

Blessings~

[Rawkinlocs]

(waves to Carmel!)

I was gonna suggest that you don't have to eat those particular greens. Eat the ones you DO like. I think we often get too caught up into forcing ourselves to eat things we don't like because we were told it's healthy. I don't eat brocolli or dandelion or cilantro, for example.

But I actually LIKE collards, kale, spinach...if I didn't, I wouldn't eat them.

Try baby spinach or just darker green lettuce is EXCELLENT - romaine, green leaf, red leaf...easy to digest, more plesant to the pallette, has water in it which is a good thing.

When doing your green smoothies, try using baby spinach or spinach and you don't have to use tons of it either. Add a little and then work your way up to adding more.

Also, have you tried collards or kale as wraps? Try massaging a little oil and sea salt into the leaves (that helps!) and then wrapping your favorite pate' or veggies in it and slice and eat! But if you NEVER find yourself liking collards or kale (though I'm inclinced to believe what SweetGoddess said about the ones you grow yourself possibly tasting better to you!) then don't sweat it...just eat what you DO enjoy...hopefully there are SOME greens you like such as lettuce, spinach, parsley, cilantro, etc.

[PixieGreen]

Don't forget about sprouts, the traditional baby greens. My favorite is clover, followed by alfalfa and radish [spicey]. If you grow them in mason jars remember to let them get some light for the last two days to activate the chlorophyll and get the benefits of greens. And I love love homegrown sunflower greens! Sprouts are the easiest to grow, and they last up to a week in the fridge so you don't have to make a daily rinsing commitment if you make one big batch at a time.

Christa

[annieH]

My place smells like something is cooking....the smell of the dehydrating collards and flax is overpowering. I almost couldnt sleep last night becuse the smell was so overwhelming. not in a bad way.....but just not someting i am use to at night.
Anyway...they are almost totally dry..... i'll let you know later on how they came out. Now....what to do with them...guess i can have them with soup or salads....maybe make sandwiches if they are not too fragil.
Any suggestions?

[Sweet lips]

This past Saturday I made a raw greens and I put my foot in them! People wanted to buy them from me - They were made for the Sports and Health Day as an example of a healthy eating alternative.

AnnieH, since you said you like cooked greens, although these are not cooked, marinated long enough, you get somewhat the taste; I have a process, so it will not list as a regular recipe.

I purchased kale and collards from my local farmers market - I wash them thoroughly to remove all grit and sand , and then I strip them steams out off of them, and rinse them thouroughly.

I then chop some red onion, celery, and red bell pepper and if it is for my family only, jalepeno (2), 1 clove of garlic - more sometimes and put it aside until ready to add. I sprinkle a little sea salt on those veggies as well.

I then take some greens and roll them up ( you can do this with any size) and cut them into ribbions - this really makes a difference to me as they marinate. Once all are cut, I then use my wonderful hands to massage sea salt into them, and let them sit for about an 1 hour - I do that because typically, I want to eat them the same day, however, you may choose to do this all at one time,

Next I massage the oil - I use about 1/4 olive oil for 2 pounds, and then I add the juice of 3 lemons and mix all that together, and then use my hands again and mix it all. Finally, I add the other chopped vegetables, mix and then let them sit overnight, they will eventually look cooked in a day or so.

I hope this encouraging to you. Also, I use all types of greens - collard, kale, mustard (kinda bitter/tart) and if I do all spinach, it is ready and does not require marinating as long.

[Smoothie]

I was going to say what everyone else did.............eat what you like. I don't like those either so I use spinch in my green smoothies. Very mild and you can hardly taste the spinch. My hubby will even drinkthem and he doesn't even know. Spinch is a great dark green veggie. I eat romaine and butter for my lettuce selections. I get plenty of dark green in the spinch and broccoli I eat.

Don't force yoruself to eat what you don't like. I HATE those flax seed crakers but many love them. So I'm not goingto eat them........ :p

[annieH]

hey.... they taste great ! very green and very garlicy too i really loaded on the spices. I made an avocado sandwich with sprouts and it was great on the green creackers. I might do this again ....if for no other reason than the taste. At least i saved my bowl of collards.

Now.... sweet lips...... i tried to do exactly what you are talking about with the oil.... it didnt work...i left it for 3 days and ...it was softer but still not palatable. maybe i need to chop the collard really small and mix it in with other greens. the green smoothie thing is out for me.....i just dont like it. thanks for your suggestions...i will keep trying becuse i do want to eat this stuff....i think its important.

Anyway.....thanks to everyone for your comments....i do appreciate it.

[Sweet lips]

Thanks AnnieH,

I made kale crackers last night - my marinated kale dish was in the fridge, I was tired of them and didn't want to throw them away. Drum roll please, using your genius, I took add flax seed, onion (wanted some more intense flavor), garlic powder, red pepper flakes, more sea salt, and garlic and deyhdrated them - 4 trays worth.

They tast good, green, onion, garlic and a little spicy from the red pepper flakes. I am glad that you shared this. Hubby says they taste different, not good or bad different, but different. I like them.

[PixieGreen]

Sweetlips, when you marinate your greens do you rinse after they have set in the salt? Thank you for sharing your process, I'm gearing up to try it. :)

Christa