# What to do with Kale, Swiss Chard,collards.



## dodgesmammaw (Jun 19, 2013)

I mostly planted these things for my rabbits. However, got to thinking surely there is something I can do to use some of these for myself. Any help greatly appreciated.
Jan


----------



## rjayne (Sep 20, 2004)

I've never made collards but I have added kale to my tossed salads and my daughter makes smoothies out of kale. 
I have also planted Swiss chard this year for the first time and have been told the leaves can be eaten raw in salads or cooked like spinach. The stems can be steamed and they are supposed to taste like asparagus. I hope that's true because we like asparagus.


----------



## Kristinemomof3 (Sep 17, 2012)

I love kale pesto.


----------



## JillyG (Jan 6, 2014)

Kale and Swiss Chard are great sauted with garlic and oil. I add sundried Tomatoes to the kale.


----------



## crobin (Mar 17, 2014)

Being from the South, collards are an everyday thing. Cook them with bacon and a little chicken broth until they are tender. They can be a little bitter, if so add a tablespoon of sugar to the pot. They are very good for you.


----------



## Packedready (Mar 29, 2011)

Steam the swiss chard


----------



## mjlitt (Apr 17, 2014)

Kale chips in the dehydrator?


----------



## suitcase_sally (Mar 20, 2006)

Make sure you make a "mess 'o greens". They cook down to nothing in the pot. Example, to have enough to equal a pint, you will need to start out with a half bushel or so.


----------



## Homesteader (Jul 13, 2002)

We love chard! If you want to put it up in the freezer- what I do it actually cook it for a bit, then drain and put into freezer in meal-size portions. Chard takes a good while to cook I find, compared to spinach that is. I don't have any experience with collards.

The frozen chard is delicious when cooked up!


----------



## Vickie44 (Jul 27, 2010)

I grow and use a lot of greens, even wilt down and freeze for winter stews. Collard greens are less bitter after frost has hit them .

I grow chard , spinach , beets , turnips ,mustard greens, kohlrabi and collards for the greens. Excellent in stews and with beans . Most are good in salads also


----------



## Kmac15 (May 19, 2007)

I like to can them using the blue ball guide with half the salt. they are nothing like the commercial canned greens. Being a bit sturdier the collards hold their shape when canned.


----------



## light rain (Jan 14, 2013)

I like to add greens to soup or stir fries. Wash and tear into small pieces and put in soup about 10 to 15 minutes before being done. As someone else said all the greens get sweeter after cooler weather. But I use them all summer, fall and early winter by not over-picking the plant any one time. Just be aware folks on blood thinners have to not over indulge because it can mess with inr levels. I grow all three plus Mizuna sp? and I'm always looking for different varieties. :nanner:


----------



## Vosey (Dec 8, 2012)

I LOVE kale and swiss chard. Here's a recent thread on kale. Although I did say to DH the other day, "I wonder if I'd love kale so much if it wasn't so easy to grow and we had a garden full of it!" Some of the kale we have this year is more bitter and tough than past years, but I will eat it and enjoy it as we grew it! 

http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/country-homemaking/cooking/514881-how-do-you-prepare-kale.html


----------



## mollymae (Feb 10, 2010)

We pressure can pretty much all our greens around here. Kale, mustard, collard....you name it. Just a little salt after wilted well or can can in broth. We do both...just whatever we have on hand at the time. Good eating with some cornbread. Quick and easy during the work week for my bunch. Check the ball book that's on.line. I can't remember the processing time....


----------



## Horseyrider (Aug 8, 2010)

I harvest swiss chard in the fall and strip the leaves off the stems. I chop into pieces about two inches square, and steam until tender. Then I wring them out in an old lint free cotton dish towel and freeze in patty shapes.

Then in the dead of winter, I pull one out, partially thaw it and chop it fine. I mix it with four eggs, a gluck (you know, that noise the cream makes when you pour it?  )of cream, a half pound of Swiss Gruyere, some crumbled bacon and sautÃ©ed mushrooms. A sprinkling of cayenne can't go wrong here, and then pour it into a pie shell, sprinkle with nutmeg, and bake at 375 until set. Voila, a quiche to die for. Adding sautÃ©ed onions and garlic is a good way, too.

I also throw the chopped greens into casseroles like bulgur and cheese. Oh my, it's wonderful on a cold winter day!


----------



## RedDirt Cowgirl (Sep 21, 2010)

Just threw some red onions, Canadian bacon and red chard (dice the stems and hand shred the leaves) in an olive oil sautÃ©, & having no polenta cooked, it went from picking to a warm garbanzo bean bowl in less than 10 minutes. Cannoli beans are the ultimate, kidney beans would be good too.

Picked up this kind of heat-softened greens with beans (and sundried tomatoes!) salad thing (here's where you dole out the balsamic vinegar at table) from a Real Food chef in S.F.

Polenta pies topped with your stuff can go in the fridge and the slices fried up in a little butter, or grilled with your BarBee meat.


----------



## wogglebug (May 22, 2004)

Robust greens (beet, chard, turnip, kale, radish leaves, bok thingy or thingy bok) do well wet down with lemon juice and sesame oil (love that nutty taste), then steamed or nuked. Or cleaned, chopped, dropped in boiling water for three minutes, drained, then dressed with the lemon juice and sesame oil. You can use lime juice or brown malt vinegar instead of lemon, but to my taste the lemon works best. 

OH! Another thing that works well is cumquat juice. It works well with milder tastes like cabbage, as well.


----------



## ajaxlucy (Jul 18, 2004)

Perfect greens recipe:

http://soul.food.com/recipe/perfect-southern-greens-kale-beet-collard-greens-mustard-163356

(I use chard if I don't have beet greens and add bacon)


----------



## cfuhrer (Jun 11, 2013)

I grow kale specifically to make Zuppa Toscana soup (like at Olive Garden), I dehydrate it and toss it in by the handful. Ocassionally I'll add it to a minestrone or lasagna but its first job in life is to be dehydrated for Zuppa.


----------



## light rain (Jan 14, 2013)

cfurher, that soup at olive garden is why I started growing Lacinato kale. We enjoy that soup and salad special they have at lunchtime.


----------



## chickflick (Oct 20, 2003)

Horseyrider said:


> I harvest swiss chard in the fall and strip the leaves off the stems. I chop into pieces about two inches square, and steam until tender. Then I wring them out in an old lint free cotton dish towel and freeze in patty shapes.
> 
> Then in the dead of winter, I pull one out, partially thaw it and chop it fine. I mix it with four eggs, a gluck (you know, that noise the cream makes when you pour it?  )of cream, a half pound of Swiss Gruyere, some crumbled bacon and sautÃ©ed mushrooms. A sprinkling of cayenne can't go wrong here, and then pour it into a pie shell, sprinkle with nutmeg, and bake at 375 until set. Voila, a quiche to die for. Adding sautÃ©ed onions and garlic is a good way, too.
> 
> I also throw the chopped greens into casseroles like bulgur and cheese. Oh my, it's wonderful on a cold winter day!


That sounds REALLY good!!


----------

