Okay, there are some Southern Girls here on the forum, and maybe you (You'all) know all about pickled greens ? I don't. I grew up in northern Idaho, and the only "greens" we ate up there was spinach.......and we called it "spinach". Until we moved to Alabama, I had never even heard the term "greens" used for anything edible, and then was not sure I even liked them when I did try the southern style cooked-to-death collards (or even worse, mustard greens). I know that they are a great source of proteins, vitamins and minerals; so I have been adding more of these greens into my diet, usually either as part of a green smoothie or even in a salad. Lightly steaming them, or sauteed with other veggies works okay for me, too. This year, greens are one of my gardening focuses, and I have ordered several kinds to grow and use more of in our diets. (I am trying one called Dinosaur Kale, now how interesting does that sound ? ) One of the things that I discovered was pickled greens. After some research, I discovered that there are basically two different ways of making pickled greens. One is with making a brine and letting it ferment, like you would do with sauerkraut , and the other way is to pickle it in a vinegar brine. I am trying the vinegar one first. I chopped some of the leaves off of my one kale plant (leftover from last fall when they sell them for fall garden color), and a few leaves from the mustard plant, chopped them up, and added some shredded carrots and a bit of the korean radish, following rather loosely, one of the easiest looking recipes that I found online. Has anyone else ever tried pickling greens, and if so, are there some EASY recipes that I can try ? http://tummyrumblr.com/gluten-free/pickled_collard_greens/
I love greens but I don't Pickle anything mainly because of the sodium content. Dinosaur kale sounds interesting, I've eaten baby kale and like that.
I have to admit that even though I'm from the south I've never heard of pickled "greens." I've heard of and tasted pickled okra, pickled quail eggs, pickled relish, pickled cucumbers, pickled cauliflower and carrots, etc. but never pickled greens. I do love greens though but I don't do pickled stuff much anymore because of the high sodium content and the acidic content too. My stomach doesn't work the same way it did when it was younger.
It looks like you could grow the dinosaur kale and other greens there, especially in the fall/winter season, @Chrissy Page . From what I read, we can grow them here as a fall crop. The ornamental kale that I planted out front last fall made it through the winter just fine. Actually, I am thinking that I planted it a year ago in the fall; so it survived that winter, and then through the heat of summer, and grew again last fall and winter. In any case, they seem to be hardy plants. I used the pink himalayan sea salt in mine, so it adds the iodine and minerals, too, plus the awesome flavor of this salt. Here is what my first experimental jar looks like. It is sitting out on the counter cooling right now, and then I will refrigerate it overnight and see how I like it.
Looks good, Yvonne. Doesn't matter what kind of salt it is for me though, if I eat too much I retain water and feel miserable, so it's just not worth it for me. I try for no more than 1500 mgs a day. Actually I really can't see the water retention but I just feel it, I know it's weird but I've been like this a long time.
Is kimchee considered pickled or fermented? That would,be my favorite thing if I didn't mind the sodium.
Kimchee is one of the fermented ones. I have tried it; but didn't like what I tried. I don't know if it was just not a good trial of it, or I just didn't like kimchee. Robin likes it really well; so I should try some when she has it, since that would be sure to be good kimchee. Our local grocery is also a Korean grocery, and they had some fresh kimchee there, and that is where I got mine. They said if I didn't like it cold, to put it in soup, but that didn't sound good to me either. I like sauerkraut, so I guess I will have to eventually try making some fermented veggies; but for right now, I am sticking to the vinegar ones until I know more about it.
Yes, I agree. Vinegar ones are easier anyway. I have made myself some pickles before, using less salt and they were pretty good.
Well, I had to try some of my pickled greens, so I tested a few bites tonight before I head for bed. They are actually pretty good ! They are supposed to cure at least overnight, so they will probably be even better tomorrow; but they have an interesting taste already. I am not sure how to describe it; but it is somewhere between a spicy relish, and a colelaw made with a vinegar dressing. I can see having some with a meal, or even added onto a salad or maybe a sandwich, too. It should be a healthy way to eat more veggies, since they are closer to raw than cooked; yet not quite like raw either, because they are submersed in the hot vinegar bath.
Vinegar is recently being touted as a sort of cure-all substance in many ads I've seen, accompanying our newspaper. Anything to that? Frank
I don't like vinegar at all apart from pickled onions for some reason, so I don't liked pickled anything, as a child I remember my grandmother pickling all sorts of things from eggs to walnuts, none of which I liked. Vinegar is popular for many things around the house and garden, and I do recall buying a "Vinegar Book" for one of my daughters, some tips here
On a holiday in Jordan a few years ago, we went to a local restaurant and ordered a main course. We didn't ask for any starters, but what we got was a huge plate of pickled cucumbers with about five tons of pitta bread. It would have seemed a little impolite to ignore it completely, so we dutifully munched our way through some of it. Not too bad in small doses, but perhaps not at that level.
I never heard of pickled greens either. Like Babs, we have pickled just about everything else. We eat a variety of greens; Spinach, kale, collards, mustard, beet greens, turnip greens, Swiss chard and soylent green