Green leafy veg

[stuckinarut21]

What leaves do you get? Any recommendations for 1 person?

What do you have it with?

How do you cook it (if it needs cooked)?

Trying to improve my diet bit by bit..

It can be difficult to get green stuff into your diet when you are only cooking for one, a whole cabbage can be a daunting sight.

I try to get round it by having watercress and rocket salad with almost anything, but it's especially good with fish.
I use leeks finely sliced and cooked in the microwave with a knob of butter, very quick and easy.
Endive finely sliced into a salad or briefly stir fried.
Fresh spinach, washed then thrown into a saucepan with no extra water, but add a knob of butter. Put the lid on and cook briefly so the leaves wilt, this is good with chicken, or steak or fish.

For a quick lunch I make a soup with any green vegetables wilted down, add some garlic and frozen peas, then some stock added, cooked for ten minutes then blended. You can add a sprinkle of cheese or a swirl of cream when serving.

@TiddleTaddleTat

Lots of tips already. If you are aiming for maximum nutritional benefit , best to steam lightly then dress with Olive oil. Baking veg at higher temperature will reduce nutrient content. Lightly steamed dressed with a good quality olive oil, especially with a squeeze of lemon too, will make the iron most absorbable (due to vitamin C) and maximise health benefits of the oil too.

That’s not quite true - all cooking reduces some nutrients. Steaming is no better or worse than roasting, but roasting food caramelises it to some degree, which makes it tastier (imo) and means you’re likely to enjoy it more and eat more of it!

But obviously a lot comes down to personal taste, so I would recommend anyone tries out different methods of cooking to see which they prefer.

I freeze bags of kale and put a broken up handful of leaves in my meals once it's finished cooking. The heat immediately defrosts it.

My current favourite is roasted tender stem broccoli, with either chilli, garlic or soy sauce, or all!

@Warmduscher oh really? I was told that by a nutritionist/naturopath (appreciate they aren’t regulated so could be trash)
I’m pretty sure the olive oil thing is true though. Baking with olive oil reduces its nutritional benefits as opposed to eating it raw.

www.wearesovegan.com/super-green-pasta/

This is lovely. For non vegans leave out nutritional yeast and throw in some Parmesan.

[quote TiddleTaddleTat]@Warmduscher oh really? I was told that by a nutritionist/naturopath (appreciate they aren’t regulated so could be trash)
I’m pretty sure the olive oil thing is true though. Baking with olive oil reduces its nutritional benefits as opposed to eating it raw.[/quote]
I would never eat kale or Savoy cabbage raw though. It would play havoc with my digestion

I wouldn't fancy Kale raw it can be quite tough. It grows locally to me as well as in my garden and I do try to avoid imported food as much as possible. It's great shredded in curry and if you blitz it in a sauce you get an interesting colour.

Also you need very little oil when you’re roasting vegetables, especially kale as you can massage it in.

Don't forget to use fresh herbs, chop them up with garlic, chillies, lemon juice. Use flat leaf parsley, coriander, and mint on their own or in combination. Capers can be added if you want extra zing. I'll add chopped coriander to most things though.

No not kale raw ! Olive oil raw
You can have baby (young) kale leaves though.
Raw cabbage good as a slaw , but probably not savoy

I add frozen or fresh spinach to my smoothie (which is cacao, banana, whatever type of milk you like, and various other, expensive, ingredients which are apparently going to stop me being middle aged and perimenopausal ). I make more than one serving so it's not so much hassle on the other days.

@TiddleTaddleTat

No not kale raw ! Olive oil raw You can have baby (young) kale leaves though. Raw cabbage good as a slaw , but probably not savoy

No I didn’t think that would work either!

Can you buy young kale leaves that you can eat raw? I’ve never seen them (though as I posted upthread, kalettes are the size of sprouts and are delicious roasted).

I love spinach boiled with garloc ans then the excess water squeezed out and adding soy sauce and rice vinegar. Delicious.
I can't afford it all the time, but I like to get a greens supplement some months, you just add a scoop to water daily and have it as a drink.

Yes you can but young kale (‘baby’ kale), I think Tesco do them.
Or of course grow your own… organic… easy to grow and delicious

They do bags of ready sliced and washed spring greens in Aldi. Would be enough for two, maybe three good sized portions for one person. Lovely sautéed in a bit of butter with garlic or just lightly steamed with new potatoes and whatever meat or fish you like

Wilted shredded cabbage/ kale(hard stem removed)/ spinach mixed with fried onion, chopped fresh parsley, broken feta cheese, the grated zest of a lemon and a beaten egg or two makes the most delicious filling for a pie or to stuff anything or even just fill a greased muffin tin to make green bites.
It only needs cooking until the egg has cooked. The lemon zest and herbs give it a lightness and the greens give freshness. You can use whatever greens you like. If you use spinach and then make a pie with filo it's called spanakopita, but I use whatever is in the fridge and just call it greens pie!

Following for inspiration!

Do you like a curry? Saag paneer is delicious and really simple to make.

Pressed post too soon! Otherwise add frozen or fresh spinach to any curry to make it into a saag version. You'll be amazed how much just melts into any sauce.

I chop and freeze some of a green cabbage when I buy it.

We make a lovely soup with spinach, rice and pesto; frozen spinach works fine, and it's foolproof. Here's a recipe

I agree a whole cabbage is a bit daunting for one, but cabbage actually keeps for ages in the fridge. The outer leaves will go a bit soft and yellow eventually, but the centre will stay crisp for a long time. This is why cabbage has been a traditional winter vegetable for centuries, as it could be kept in a cool place without refrigeration.

My husband is not all that fond of leafy green veg, but has got into the habit of eating a few leaves from a Little Gem lettuce with his lunch, along with a handful of cherry tomatoes. Better than nothing.

Broccoli, drizzled in olive oil, bit of salt and pepper, roasted on high for about half an hour

It is lovely but I do suspect cooking it so long may reduce the nutrients

@Bloodybridget

We make a lovely soup with spinach, rice and pesto; frozen spinach works fine, and it's foolproof. Here's a recipe

That sounds delicious! Thanks for the link