Facts for FACS Teachers

Leaf Through These Greens
Ruth Mossok Johnston, Family and Consumer Sciences Editorial Director

Salad was a lot simpler when iceberg was the mainstay. Teachers are now educating their students about nutrient-laden greens and there is plenty to choose from.

Along with trendy greens like perilla, mâche, purslane, mizuna, and frisée (to name a few), deep green leafy vegetables considered part of the cruciferous family can be found in our salads and cooked, or served, with our main dishes. Cruciferous vegetables, commonly known as the cabbage family, are known to stimulate specific enzymes and block carcinogens. In addition to their healthy properties, cabbage, broccoli, bok choy, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, kohlrabi, turnips, rutabaga, collards, kale, mustards, and turnip greens, are truly delicious!

Introduce students to the colorful side of salads. Have them add some lollo rossa, an Italian looseleaf lettuce, or some red radicchio (a red chicory). Encourage students to add cooked greens to their menus. Those can be boiled, sautéed, or grilled.

Invite your students to leaf through these fashionable greens and come up with some interesting and nutritious side dishes or menu plans!

Arugula (rocket, roquette and rucola) - Considered an herbal green, this ancient Mediterranean native is a member of the mustard family. The characteristic nutty-peppery taste becomes quite muted when cooked. Delicious in fresh salads when young and tender, rocket becomes stronger and almost mustardy when picked as a more mature leaf. The white-purple veined flowers of arugula are edible and make a lovely garnish to a big beautiful fresh green salad.

Cilantro (Chinese Parsley) – They are the leaves of the coriander plant. A pungent herb resembling parsley, commonly used in Mexican and Asian cuisine. Terrific in fresh green salads, salsas, soups, and stews.

Collards - This sturdy leafy green, like many other pot herbs, can be eaten raw when they are picked young and tender. If purchasing in a store, they are usually beyond use in the raw stage and need to be cooked. This deep green kale look-alike (without the crinkle) is
a member of the cabbage family and is delicious in soups, stews, or boiled and seasoned - not just for southerners!

Dandelion - Considered an herbal green, when young, this deep-green, thin-sculptured leaf is delicate and delicious in salads. Older leaves must be blanched or cooked to reduce their bitterness. Like collard greens, they are great in soups, stews, or boiled and seasoned.

Frisée - Part of the chicory family, these light-green leaves, frilly in appearance are the least bitter relative. Delicious tossed among a mixture of field greens, make it a part of your mesclun salad.

Mâche (Corn salad) - Found easily in northern Europe, France, and England this delicious salad delicacy is usually found in culinary gardeners’ gardens. Keep looking in the stores, the trends may make it so! A mild, nutty-flavored herbal green that remains delicate no matter when it is picked, mâche is perfect for salads.

Mesclun - A French term for a mixture, in this case, salad greens, it is not a specific lettuce or salad herb, but it is a combination of greens, sometimes mild, sometimes piquant. Make your own combinations by mixing all types of baby greens and lettuces. Add some of the chicories to give it that zesty edge.

Mustard - This bright green, slightly fuzzy - pungent green is another in the cabbage family, a pot herb that finds its way into many a Southern garden! Only very young hand-picked tender leaves can be eaten raw in salads. Mustard greens are generally boiled and seasoned, or added to soups and stews eliminating some of their strong bitter flavor.

Perilla - This popular Asian pot herb is a member of the mint family and is often used in sushi. Tender, young leaves are uniquely flavored and add a perfume-type flavor to a fresh green salad. Perilla can be found in some Asian markets or home grown in a variety of strains - green, purple, or cumin-scented.

Purslane - A choice salad ingredient all over western Europe, it has come to
America. This oval, delicately-flavored leaf is a tart, lemony-flavor addition to salads, rated high in Omega-3 fatty acids and rich in vitamin E.

Rapini (Broccoli Rabe) - Deep green and leafy, this bitterly delicious member of the cabbage family is a prominent ingredient in Italian cuisine, usually blanched, then sautéed with garlic in olive oil.

Radicchio – This red chicory is a relative to endive. It is a red-purple-hued-peppery flavored salad green adds flavor and color to any salad and also tastes great grilled in halves and splashed with balsamic vinegar.

Sorrel - This hardy salad herb has a sharp flavor and tastes delicious in salads (pick young leaves). Cook it like spinach and make it into a “green,” or use it as a tasty zip in omelets and soups.

Mizuna - (Japanese mustard) - On the lighter side of the mustards, this leafy green will give your salad a nice, light zip. When using it for salads, make sure it is young. Like all mustards, when mature, they are best served cooked or steamed.