Roasted Beets & Fennel Salad with Beet Greens & Oranges from Wild About Greens by Nava Atlas
I am excited to give away a copy of Wild About Greens
This would be a terrific book for someone who wants to eat more leafy greens, and especially if you are a member of a CSA and are constantly getting greens and don’t know what to do with them. I’m excited to be giving away one copy PLUS a gift basket of fresh greens from my friends at Cut `n Clean Greens. (Greens will arrive after the book so you have time to look at recipes.)
Cut `n Clean Greens will provide a generous assortment of farm-fresh, grower-direct organic greens varieties, shipped overnight from their plant in Oxnard, California with cold packs. Winner will receive organic greens, type will vary based on availability the day of shipping.
What I liked about the book: Nicely organized, with an opening chapter of basic prep and an encyclopedic primer on leafy greens. Every recipe has one of Nava’s lovely hand-drawn illustrations; there are only eight color photos in the center of the book. Lots of gluten-free recipes and a few raw options in the Green Juices & Smoothies chapter. After testing four recipes (and one so far from another of her books) I feel confident that her recipes will work and be extremely tasty.
I wasn’t so keen on: I think this book assumes a pretty high level of knowledge about cooking techniques, and some of the recipes are somewhat light on instruction for a beginner. For example, in the recipe below, the instructions are to “steam the greens in a skillet,” but don’t explain that you have to add water to create the steam (the assumption is the reader would have read the opening prep chapter in advance). It also suggested you chop the greens before washing them, which isn’t the logical order for me. In addition, there wasn’t much information on recipe prep time. The Curried Sweet Potatoes recipe I tried took more than 45 minutes to prepare, which would have been helpful to know. I always like it when cookbooks have color photos for all or most of the recipes, although I know that adds to the cost.
I have tested four recipes from the book. I tried the Balsamic-Glazed Chickpeas & Mustard Greens, which was contributed by Susan Voisin, food photographer for the book and the blogger behind Fat-Free Vegan Kitchen. I liked this recipe, although if I were to make it again I would add more tamari and agave syrup and cook the greens in the sauce to reduce their bitterness.
I also tried Curried Sweet Potatoes with Chard & Chickpeas, which was outright delicious, richly colored, and made a hearty dinner served over brown rice. It is Husband Tested and Approved! It also was fine with absolutely no salt or pepper, so would be great for low-sodium diets. I put the Swiss chard stems in with the potatoes, and I liked that they were a little more cooked than they would have been had I followed the directions perfectly. I also would have put the raisins in earlier so they would plump up a bit.
Her Quinoa with Kale, Sweet Potatoes, & Pecans was an unusual and hearty dish. I chopped the kale in the food processor, so the dish ended up with the consistency of hash with chunks of sweet potatoes interspersed. The pecans added that nice bit of crunch and texture that I would have missed otherwise.
The beet salad (pictured above) was so yummy I asked Nava for permission to share it. I made it with a combination of olive and walnut oils. I made supremes with the oranges, as I couldn’t find clementines, so I could have skipped the lemon juice. It would be great topped with toasted walnuts.
Here’s this week’s question:
Which leafy green have you always thought you should try but never had the nerve to buy?
Roasted Beets and Fennel Salad with Beet Greens and Oranges
Reprinted with permission from Wild About Greens © 2012 by Nava Atlas, Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.
6 to 8 servings
1 large bunch beets, consisting of 4 to 5 good-sized beets with a good quantity of greens
1 medium fennel bulb, stemmed, trimmed of stalks, and thinly sliced
1/2 medium red onion, thinly sliced
2 to 3 cloves garlic, sliced
2 tablespoons (30 ml) extra-virgin olive oil or fragrant nut oil*
3 small seedless oranges, sectioned
2 tablespoons minced fresh dill (about a large handful)
Juice of 1 lemon, or more, to taste
2 teaspoons (10-15 ml) agave nectar, or more, to taste
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Preheat the oven to 425F/220C/gas mark 6.5 .
Cut the greens away from the beets. Chop coarsely, rinse well, and set aside. [I washed them thoroughly, then steamed them whole, finely chopping them after they were cool.]
To minimize the mess of cutting raw beets, peel over the trash or compost container, and slice them on a cutting board covered with wax paper. Place the sliced raw beets in a foil-lined baking dish and combine with the sliced fennel, onion, and garlic. Drizzle with enough oil to coat, reserving the rest. [I used olive oil for this step.]
Bake for 30 minutes, or until tender to your liking. Stir once or twice during that time. [I stirred every 10 minutes and baked them for 40.]
Meanwhile, place the beet greens in a medium skillet; steam until bright green and just tender. Place in a colander and squeeze out as much liquid as possible. Chop fairly fine. [This is where they could have used more explanation. I put the greens in a steamer basket with water in a saucepan and steamed them, covered, for about 10 minutes. I let them cool completely, then squeezed dry and chopped them up.]
Combine the roasted vegetables in a mixing bowl with the remaining oil as well as all the remaining ingredients and toss together. Serve warm or at room temperature. [I whisked the walnut oil, lemon juice, agave syrup, and salt, and pepper together before pouring over.]
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VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW. - Prize description: One copy of Wild About Greens plus one box of fresh organic greens, retail value of $64.95.
Want to see more about this book?
Liked and Liked and never had Watercress or Collards. Love Kale, Chard, Spinach. Would dearly love this book! Thanks for the chance to win. Peace.
And I tweeted it: https://twitter.com/stacyspensley/status/261587889396260864
I’ve actually never had watercress!
Collard greens. Need to change this.
Day 2 tweet: https://twitter.com/Deedeethatsmee/status/261224065883324418
liked your page on FB
I’m already an email subscriber
following you on twitter @cherrycobbler
I have tried a lot of leafy greens, I always thought I should have more mustard greens but I find them a little intense.
Dandelions greens! I was wary of kale for a while, but tried it for veganmofo and it’s pretty darned good!
I now follow Cut n’ Clean Greens on Facebook. (Deb Dianne)
Tweeted about this giveaway: https://twitter.com/Deedeethatsmee/status/260876498259570689
I already eat a lot of greens and just today saw dandelion greens on Dr Oz, that he said were medicinal and I noted that I never have used these. I will try to cook these soon!
I love greens! I always see various asian/Hmong greens at the farmers market, and I have always wanted to try them. I don’t know the names of them, but they look so interesting, and I see people buying huge bags of them all the time!
Courtney
Tweeted about this.
I have wanted to cook fresh collards for a number of years now. I see big bunches of them when visiting my husband’s family in Mississippi but haven’t yet cooked them when visiting there.
Kale!! Everyone talks about how good it is, but it’s just so, well, so green. My daughter tried it at dance class though and liked it. I guess I need to try too!
Chard
Watercress! I’ve been trying to think of things other than just tearing it up and adding it to salads — or, of course, tea time sandwiches. 🙂
I’m a huge fan of all the other ‘bitter’ greens. Yum!
I love Nava Atlas and am learning about greens. So glad for this review. BTW, the green veg I was most leery of eating was kale. Who knew it could be a part of wonderful green smoothies?
I want ideas on how to try it all..especially chard, mustard greens, kale, etc. Greens are supposed to be so good for you, but, I have a tough time with preparation (and the gag factor..if it doesn’t taste great, I can’t/won’t eat it).
Added you on FB..
I love greens. But one green I have never attempted to cook with is pursulane. I don’t see it much around here, but I hear the nutritional benefits are wonderful. I’ve never owned one of Atlas’ books, so I’m excited for a chance to win.
vegintraining at g mail dot com
I’ve never tried mustard greens, need to get going on that.
Dandelion greens scare me! I love all the other greens though, especially swiss chard as my dad (who passed away 18 years ago) loved it and grew it in his garden for us to enjoy. Looks like a fun cookbook I would love to add to my collection.
Kale! I know it’s a vegan staple but I never knew a good way to cook it. Would love to have this book.
Dandelion and mustard greens are two I’ve never tried…yet.
I love kale, collards, spinach and such but I’m really unsure of what to do with branch lettuce, creasy greens and dandelion greens which all grow wildly in my Appalachian mountains.
We at Cut `n Clean Greens are so happy to be a part of this, Stephanie! Nava’s book is a wonderful exploration of greens, and we know that whoever wins it will have their eyes opened to all the different ways you can cook them. To all of your readers who so bravely named the greens they find daunting, thank you! We have 125+ recipes for greens on our website at http://www.cutnclean.com, and that’s a good place to start for ideas. We also put at least one, and often more, links to good-looking and good-sounding recipes on our Facebo0k page every day. Stephanie’s readers, if you wish, please come LIKE us on Facebook for more recipes and tips on greens like kale, chard, beet, mustard, turnip, collard, escarole, dandelion and other healthy green leafies. https://www.facebook.com/Cut.n.Clean.Greens
Keep it green!
–Your friendly Southern California farmers at Cut `n Clean Greens
https://www.facebook.com/Cut.n.Clean.Greens
Chinese mustard greens…I’m told they can be bitter and I’ve never had good luck cooking with bitter veggies.
Thanks for sharing the recipe…cheers!
Stinging Nettles. I have a pasture full every winter and the horses will not touch them. I end up chopping and chopping!
I have always eyed dandelion greens, but always associated them with the weeds we had in our yards back east growing up!
I am a huge fan of greens, and have tried them all. I would say that the one that I have had the least success with is mustard greens for some reason. Would love to have a great recipe to give me success with this one! Thanks.
I haven’t tried Chard – really need to do that soon!
I liked Recipe Renovator on Facebook.
I have been afraid of mustard greens! I just re-tried collards and turnip greens last year and absolutely love them.
I have never tried collard greens and I wouldn’t know how to fix them even if I would buy them!
What a thorough and helpful review! Thanks! I wouldn’t say that there are any greens that I’m afraid to buy or try. I think I’ve tried all that are available at my grocery store and farmers market. I don’t tend to buy mustard greens or arugula, because I’m not wild about their intense flavors.
I’m new to plant based foods and need help to incorporate recipes into my family meals. All the different greens are new to me. It sounds like your book would be a huge help!
Mustard greens are a mystery to me!
liked cut n clean on fb
liked you on fb
probably kale
I love this recipe. It is wonderful, thanks for sharing!
Collard greens! I don’t think I’ve ever cooked them.
Mustard greens.
I now follow Cut ‘n Clean on facebook!
I started following you on facebook!
I love cooking with greens, but have never tried mustard greens due to their bitterness. Maybe if I had some awesome new recipes I’d finally be brave enough to try them!
Wild harvesting makes me a little bit shy, but otherwise I haven’t met a green I didn’t trust. We eat nettles and amaranth from the garden and the canyon, plus lettuces, spinach, kale and chard from the local organic farm. I’m also charmed by the idea of an illustrated book, like in the old Moosewood days.
Following you on Twitter/FB and just connected with Cut N Clean too. Be well!
I’m terrified of dandelion greens! I know they’re super good for you, but I have a mental block… (Also, charj, I love the word mucilaginous!)
I also retweeted your tweet and followed you on Facebook (as the Farmers Market Vegan).
https://twitter.com/reciperenovator/status/259332080129941504
I don’t often buy mustard greens or chard since their distinct flavors don’t lend themselves well to smoothies, but I’d love to start cooking with them more!
Malabar spinach, on one hand Internet articles say it doesn’t wilt as much as true spinach when cooked but on the other hand the articles also say the texture is mucilaginous like okra.
I’ve always wanted to try cooking collard greens but I’m scared!! Maybe this cookbook could help.