Loving Greens.....

With the spring making its entrance, days are warm and nights are cool, GREENS are thriving in most of the country that enjoys 4 seasons.  Things like spinach, collards, kale, tatsoi, and lettuce and enjoying the prime growing season.  If you are trying to eat locally, then greens a big part of your diet last night.  Thanks to Tara at http://www.nourishingyourfamily.com/, here are some creative ways of using those greens!

10 Creative Ways to Use those Greens!

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Here are quick 10 ways to use those greens:

10) Use in juicer or smoothies. No one has to know.

9) Wash, steam lightly, drizzles farm butter or olive oil & lemon over it and enjoy.

8) Puree or finely chop and add to brownies or homemade chicken finger egg mixture

7) Chop finely, add to taco meat (see recipe below)

6) Chop finely and add to soup about 10 minutes before serving. Adds a last shot of wonderful nutrients and enzymes.

5) Chop finely and add to spaghetti sauce, Chili, any entree.

4) Chop and add to scrambled eggs or quiche

3) Finely chop and add to your pets food. Our bearded dragons love Dandelion Greens best.

2) Blanch and freeze if you are in danger of them spoiling before you can use them.

1) Saute' with coconut oil and fresh garlic

Creative Ways to Use those Greens!

Tara's Tacos

(gluten-free, casein-free)

Here is a fairly quick, very easy recipe from our kitchen:

- 1 1/2 - 2 lbs of ground meat (grass fed beef, buffalo, turkey, etc.)
- 1 cup pureed squash (great to keep on hand)

- 1-2 cups finely chopped greens (dandelion, chard, kale, whatever shows up in your CSA basket)

- 1 large yellow onion

- Spices: tumeric, garlic, cumin, chili pepper, a dash of cayenne pepper, salt

- Freshly chopped Garlic clove

- Rice Chips, Sprouted crackers, Organic Tortilla Chips or serve over salad.

- coconut oil, or other stable fat for cooking such as farm lard or fresh butter

Heat skillet and a then add cooking fat. After oil gets hot, add garlic and onions and saute until golden. Add ground meat and squash puree. Add spices and let cook. Add chopped greens. Greens such as collards can be added with meat, and softer greens added later. Spice to your taste. ***Note: some greens may have a spicy taste to them. Dial that into your recipe.

FIXINS' on the side: chop more greens and lettuces to serve cold. Chop Tomatoes, salsa, raw cheese or grated carrots, farm fresh yogurts or coconut yogurt, beans, quinoa, brown rice, etc.

Serve Hot and Enjoy! Other variations include serving as a salad, deleting the "chip"/Starch thing all together, or using rice or whole grain soft tortillas.

***Note: some greens like collards are tougher, and hence tougher to digest. Cooking them with steam unlocks various nutrients is often times easier to digest and assimilate nutrients.