Substitute for Spinach

Ok, now that we've established that we like to forage on leafy greens, how many of you eat the stems of the chard, beet greens, collards etc and how many eat the leaves and compost the stems?

I often save my chard & beet stems to use in a casserole. This is a traditional Swiss/Italian way to prepare them. The stems are cut into smaller, manageable pieces (meaning, how well can you handle them with your fork), sauteed in a little butter with salt & pepper until just tender, then transferred to a baking dish. A Bechamel sauce made of butter, flour, milk, Parmesan and sprinkle of nutmeg is then poured over the stems and they are baked for about 15 minutes until the top has set and browned a little. Some folks use Emmantaler instead of Parmesan in the sauce. Some folks sprinkle the cheese over the stems first rather than incorporate it into the sauce. We rarely have any leftovers of this dish.

Thanks! Garden Mermaid,

That recipe sounds delicious. I guess I am going to have to go back to the store and get beet greens and more chard. Hopefully by next spring I will be growning them all (somehow integrated into my butterfly/hummingbird garden)....LOL

I have never eaten the stems on any leafy greens before.

Thanks for sharing,

Chuck

Does that mean you don't eat your broccoli stems either?
We usually grown the leaf type broccolo in the garden but sometimes I buy the large heading broccoli at the store. These often come with thick woody stems. We peel the woody outer part of the stem off, then chop the tender inner stem into 1/2 inch to 1 inch chunks. These can be steamed and then tossed in a vinaegrate dressing. If I have a lot of stem chucks, I also substiture them for the brussel sprouts in the Udupi style recipe that I posted here:
http://davesgarden.com/place/t/664658/

Thanks for answering so quickly. I devour broccoli stems...LOL. My wife cuts them into bite size pieces and tosses them in the vegetable pot. By the way, the recipes on the link you gave are absolutely the greatest. I won't plant them but I will try brussel sprouts in the Udupi recipe or maybe all of the recipes.

What a nice Christmas dinner addition brussel sprouts would make. My mother just cooked them plain except for a little butter but these recipes sound much better.

Thanks again,

Chuck.