About the Author
----------------
Dana Jacobi apprenticed with three-star chefs in France and
is the award-winning author of fifteen cookbooks, including six
for Williams-Sonoma. She has written numerous articles that have
appeared in O: The Oprah Magazine, Cooking Light, and The New
York Times, among other publications. In addition to her personal
blog, Dana Dish, she also writes the blog Something Different for
the American Institute for Cancer Research. Dana Jacobi consults
with food companies to help create products, recipes, and website
content. She lives in New York City.
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Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
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1.
THE POWER of GREENS
The benefits from eating Power Greens are vast—ranging from
maintaining strong s to protecting against cancer from head
to toe, inside and out, including warding off skin cancers. They
contain substances that neutralize and help eliminate toxins that
accumulate in our bodies. Eating them helps reduce the risk of
es and strokes. Including them in your diet keeps your mind
keen and your vision sharp.
These fifteen dark, leafy greens are dense with -supporting
ents and phytos that protect against heart disease
and high blood pressure and neutralize free radicals caused by
inflammation and aging. No wonder we keep hearing more reasons
why they belong in our diet every day. To put it bluntly, eating
Power Greens can save your life.
Along with a wealth of s, minerals, and unique
phytoents, many of these greens contain as much fiber as a
of oatmeal, or even more. Some also contain a useful a
of protein, which is particularly helpful in a meatless diet. All
this goodness makes them powerful indeed.
The Fifteen Power Greens
These fifteen dark, leafy greens stand above other vegetables
because of substances found in each of them—often in high
concentrations—and what these do for our bodies. All vegetables
have tional benefits, but these in particular stand head and
shoulders above the rest.
Arugula
Bok Choy
Broccoli Rabe
Brussels Sprouts
Cabbage
Chard and Beet Greens
Cilantro
Collard Greens
Kale
Broccoli Leaf
Mustard Greens
Parsley
Romaine Lettuce
Spinach
Watercress
What Is in Them?
Some of the substances in these greens are familiar s and
minerals. Spinach contains lavish as of folate and iron.
Collard greens provide a hefty a of calcium, a mineral
important for everyone but especially for vegans and others who
do not eat dairy foods. Many of the top greens are excellent
sources of K, which scientists are learning has more and
more important functions than previously realized.
In addition to these valuable s and minerals, most of
these greens are rich in carotenoids, a family of antioxidants.
These carotenoids include lutein and zeaxanthin, which protect
our eyes against macular degeneration.
Less familiar phytoents abound as well in these greens.
Glucosinolates, indoles, sulfuraphane, and antioxidant flavonoids
are powerful enough to detoxify harmful substances that come from
the environment and from foods we consume. They eliminate
cancer-causing toxins, protect the heart and vascular system, and
reduce the damage free radicals cause.
There are fifteen of these Power Greens (actually nineteen if you
count red and Napa cabbages, beet greens, which are close to
chard, and both broccoli leaf and an heirloom broccoli in leaf
form). Each of them, with its beneficial ents, is described
in detail in its individual section after the recipes.
Why So Many Brassicas
Ten Power Greens are brassicas, aka cruciferous vegetables.
Crucifers are a varied and supercharged botanical family. The
ones included here—some darker, others more leafy—are arugula,
bok choy, broccoli rabe, Brussels sprouts, cabbages, collard
greens, kale, leaf broccoli, mustard greens, and watercress. Like
other crucifers, such as radishes and broccoli, these greens
taste hot or bitter because of the abundance of sulfur compounds
and other phytos they contain. For the , these
substances provide protection. For us, they act as detoxifiers
and often have anticancer properties, along with many other
benefits, as explained in the section for each vegetable.
Substances in cruciferous vegetables called isothiocyanates are
known as goitrogens because they have the potential to affect
thyroid function. No carefully conducted studies have determined
a relationship between them and changes in thyroid function for
y individuals. I have a thyroid condition called
Hashimoto’s disease, and my endocrinologist, an eminent expert,
assures me that eating generous as of kale, collards, and
other brassicas has not caused or affected this. Cooking reduces
the a of these heat-sensitive goitrogens. Eating up to two
to three cups a week of cruciferous vegetables is generally
considered fine, but check with a care professional if you
are concerned about the goitrogens in Brassicas, which include
radishes, turnips, and other vegetables as well as broccoli and
other dark greens.
Other Greens Excel, Too
Spinach, chard, and beet greens contain an abundance of folate
and other s and iron and other minerals. They are also
extremely rich in carotenoids, which you want to make your skin
look good and to protect against various cancers.
Lettuce does not top the list for ent density, but the B
s in romaine, plus its as of s C and K qualify
romaine as a Power Green, especially its dark outer leaves. So
one of my missions is showing you ways to love these greener,
stronger-tasting leaves.
Two s Are Tops
Parsley and cilantro come next. These fresh s are so rich in
phytoents, s, and carotenoids that I recommend eating
them as abundantly as vegetables. Recipes here use them
often—cumulative as count—and show how to enjoy them in
larger as than usual.
Let’s Be Real
If you don’t like a food, or if preparing it takes too long, you
won’t bother with it. Four issues, I find, affect how willing
people are to prepare and eat the most ent-powerful greens.
Taste
The good stuff in these greens is bitter by nature. What makes
them so beneficial simply does taste bitter or pungently hot—or
both, in the case of arugula, mustard greens, and watercress. As
humans, we are biologically wired to like sweetness. And while
other cultures accept and even embrace bitter foods, Americans
remain notoriously averse to bitterness.
Texture
Dark greens are tough customers. Even romaine takes more chewing
than other lettuces. But rather than making kale, collards,
chard, and other greens pleasantly tender, many recipes undercook
them, leaving them too chewy and pungent or tannic tasting.
Time
Many of these greens are high maintenance to prepare. Using kale,
collards, leafy broccoli, chard, and mustard greens requires
stripping out their tough stems and center vein one leaf at a
time. Sometimes two-step cooking makes them more enjoyable.
Technique
The fourth resistance I hear about dark, leafy greens is not
knowing what to do with many of them. This includes being unsure
how much to buy and how to store them as much as wondering how to
prepare them.
A Simple Solution
Two cooking techniques solve issues about cooking kale, collards,
and other greens.
Short Cooking: Plunging them briefly into one or two inches of
boiling water
Quick Cooling: Swiftly chilling Short Cooked greens under cold
running water
Together, these techniques speed up blanching, then shocking dark
greens. They reduce bitterness yet keep vivid taste.
Short Cooked–Quick Cooled greens used in dishes actually reduce
their total cooking times. From start to finish, braised Tuscan
kale is tender and ready in twenty rather than forty minutes. And
it tastes better.
You can refrigerate the lightly cooked greens for up to three
days, letting you prep several kinds efficiently on a weekend or
during an evening, then use them during the week. They are ready
to freeze, too.
Dishes made with greens that are Short Cooked and Quick Cooled
have better texture. Some people are fine eating kale cooked for
only five minutes, until just beyond collapsing, but don’t be
surprised if your jaw aches after chewing a few forkfuls. I like
kale to have body, and broccoli rabe to be al dente, but not so
much that eating them feels like work. I don’t want my Brussels
sprouts to bite back. Using these two steps gives you greens with
the right texture to complete dishes more quickly and with the
best flavor.
As if all this isn’t enough, there is one more benefit to Short
Cooking and Quick Cooling greens. Chard, beet greens, and collard
greens release dark juices that turn soups and stews an
unappealing color. Short Cooking before you use them in a recipe
eliminates this problem.
How to Short Cook–Quick Cool Greens
Boil 4 to 8 cups of water in a large saucepan. Add fresh greens
and use a wooden spoon to push them until they collapse into the
water. Cover and cook the greens for 2 to 4 minutes. Drain the
greens in a colander and swish them under cold running water to
chill them, which takes 30 seconds.
For buying greens, the first question I am asked is how to select
them. The individual section on each Power Green at the back of
the book gives a detailed description of what you want. It
includes what to look for at your supermarket and local farmer’s
markets.
How much do I need to buy is usually the next question. Most of
the Power Greens are sold in bunches. So how many bunches do you
need?
How Big Is a Bunch?
Power Greens sold in a bag or plastic box contain a fixed weight,
which makes buying the right a easy. The tion Facts
labels show how many servings they provide. But there is no
consistent answer for bunches because they have no fixed weight
or size. More precisely, what a bunch weighs or contains is up to
the farmer or grower. It is what he or she feels is right for
kale, collards, broccoli leaf, arugula, parsley, and other
greens. For spinach or watercress, the a the person picking
it can grasp and band determines the size of a bunch.
This vague measurement challenges cooks. But how vague is it?
Using the scale every produce department has for customer use, I
have weighed scores of bunches and found that for each green,
there is a predictable range and an average weight. The recipes
here use these as a guideline. If you, too, weigh bunches for a
few weeks, your eye will get to recognize pretty closely what
they weigh. Happily, most of the recipes here are flexible, so if
you have a few more ounces of raw greens than called for, combine
the extra with other greens in another dish, freeze them, or
juice them.
Be Picky
At the store, inspect both bags and boxes—including the bottom—to
make sure the contents are all in good condition.
When you get home, dump the contents into a large and pick
through them for crushed, spoiled leaves. Also did pieces of
tough stem, which will stay hard and tough when cooked. Cut off
dry, browned ends of packaged Brussels sprouts, broccoli rabe, or
watercress.
Always wash packaged greens. Even immaculate-looking ones labeled
triple-washed can have undesirable bacteria clinging to them.
Frozen Greens
Commercially frozen greens save time, but spinach is the only one
I recommend. Commercially frozen kale, collards, broccoli rabe,
and Brussels sprouts taste watery. During cooking they can go
quickly from tough or stringy to mushy. But I encourage freezing
greens at home. A time-saver at mealtime, home-frozen kale,
collards, broccoli leaf, and broccoli rabe are actually more
tender when defrosted. You can braise them or use them in pasta
dishes, soups, and stews with excellent, flavorful results.
Home-frozen spinach is also excellent.
Stripping
I remove the stem and center vein from the large-leafed Power
Greens. For Tuscan kale, this includes taking out even the thin
part near the top of the leaf. For collard greens and chard, the
even texture when they are cooked without their central vein is
infinitely nicer.
With slight practice, I promise you will strip the average bunch
of greens in two minutes. There are two ways to do it.
Fold and Tear Hold a leaf in one hand, stem pointing up. With
your other hand, bring the two dark, front sides of the leaf
toward each other, like closing a book. Placing one hand at the
base of the leaf, with your other hand pull the leaf out and away
from the vein. To keep a firm grip, move your hands down the vein
as the leaf tears away.
This works best with kales, broccoli leaves, mustard greens, beet
greens, and smaller chard and collard greens.
V-Cut Lay a leaf flat on a cutting board, right side up and with
the stem toward you. Starting at the top of the center vein, run
the down along each side. Lift out and did the vein and
stem.
This is the best way to strip large chard, collard greens, and
cabbages.
Washing and Storing
Wait until you’re ready to use greens before washing them. They
last longer this way, even if they are gritty or dirt is clinging
to stems or roots.
Wash greens in a big , not the sink. This avoids possible
contamination. Getting most greens clean requires several water
changes, so using a requires less water. It lets you see
better, too, when the water is clear and you are done.
My preferred way to store greens is to loosely wrap them in a
paper towel, then slip them inside a plastic bag, stems facing
the opening. Leave the bag open or close it loosely. Every couple
of days, check and change the towel. Turn the bag inside out if
there is too much moisture.
The section about each Power Green at the back of the book has
more specific, individual storage instructions.
The Big Squeeze
Defrosted spinach and Short Cooked greens are full of water. To
eliminate it, gather up the hardier greens and press them into a
big ball. If your hands are small, like mine, make two balls.
For the softer greens—broccoli rabe, chard, and spinach—squeeze
them out a handful at a time. Compress the handful in your fist
until it is a firm roll; you don’t have to wring it out like
laundry. Then put a couple of the rolls together and squeeze them
again.
How Much Is a Cup
For a loosely packed cup, fill a dry measuring cup (see Good
Technique) to the top with greens. For packed or firmly packed,
keep adding to the full cup, pressing gently on the greens for
packed, and pressing harder for firmly packed.
Good Technique
Measure dry ingredients like parsley, sugar, or beans in the
flat-bottomed, nested cups marked 1⁄4, 1⁄3, 1⁄2, or 1 cup.
Measure liquids in a clear glass or plastic cup with a pouring
lip and markings for ounces and metric as. A 1-cup size is
all you really need.
Equipment
These six tools will help you prep and cook Power Greens
efficiently.
Scale: You should have one anyway, but for greens, use it to
weigh bunches and loose leaves. My digital scale gives weights in
ounces and pounds or in grams, which is useful for baking.
Large Saucepan with a Cover: A lightweight and non-reactive pot
is helpful for Short Cooking greens. I use an All-Clad 4-quart
stainless steel pot. It is big enough to Short Cook up 2 pounds
of stripped collard leaves or three 8-ounce bunches of spinach. A
bigger pot is fine, but this size is easy to handle. The tighter
the cover fits, the better.
Tongs: Use them to lift greens out of pots and to turn and move
greens while sautéing them or when making kale chips. My favorite
tongs, made of inexpensive metal, are 9 inches long, which gives
more control than longer ones.
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