Leafy Green Inspiration

February 15, 2024 6:31 PM

Please share ideas for what I should do with all these leafy greens I accidentally have all at once! Specifics within.

I wasn’t paying enough attention when assembling my local produce delivery this week and because it’s that time of year I now have way too many of what I consider similar leafy greens that are fresh and delicious but that I can’t eat by myself before they go bad in the ways I would normally consume them. If you had a fridge full of the following, how would you prepare these:

-large bundle of watercress
-a big green cabbage
-smaller tender collard greens
-a fragile head of hydroponic butter lettuce
-one bunch of flat leaf parsley

Normally I would make a salad with nearly all of these, maybe just braising the collards but they are the sweet winter collards so would be fine in a salad too. But it is February and I am in the doldrums and there aren’t many good salad additions to make them super enjoyable (I love a good garden salad but the tomatoes and cucumbers right now are so depressing). I might also do a salad with parsley carrots bulgur and chickpeas, and I was thinking about trying a Japanese pickle experiment with the cabbage? But those all sound boring and also there are only so many simple salads I can eat in time and it’s hard to figure out what else to have with them for a complete meal. That cress is wilting as we speak!

I’m an omnivore and I am only cooking for myself but I’m happy to make things that freeze well in portions for later. Currently I’m avoiding beef but all other proteins are on the table including tofu and other meatless alternatives, I love lamb, chicken, pork, eggs, beans, seeds and nuts, and enjoy cheese and other dairy in moderation. I am a skilled home cook and am looking for ideas and inspiration more than exact recipes but either would be fine. I am not a baker but something like a pot pie or a big stuffed dumpling might be interesting to try? Any type of food is fine, soups to pickles to casseroles, sauces and side dishes to one pot meals. I have a good blender and might be interested in a green smoothie but I don’t have much experience with making those.

Me and my blood iron levels thank you!

posted by Mizu to Food & Drink (33 answers total)

Best answer: Some of that parsley and watercress plus garlic, oil, and acid would make a nice gremolata/pesto/chimichurri. Use it in sandwiches, over pasta, grilled fish or veg, etc. Freeze the rest in ice cube trays.
posted by dr. boludo at 6:33 PM on February 15 [4 favorites]

Also I'd shred or very finely slice at least half that cabbage and lactoferment it as sauerkraut. If you want it to be more like German saurkreaut, add caraway seeds. If you want a more versatile and culturally indeterminate, leave them out and it would work fine as a flexible base pickled crunchy veg in a variety of rice bowls, sandwiches, etc. based on vaguely and inauthentically Asian or Latin American flavor profiles. You could think of it like a very mildly flavored kimchi or curtido, and add other requisite flavors to small batches of it (fish sauce, dried shimp and gochugaru for something pseudo-Korean; Mexican oregano, shredded carrot, serrano or habaneros for pseudo-Central American) to make it fit whatever it's playing with.
posted by dr. boludo at 6:43 PM on February 15 [4 favorites]

I, personally, would feed much of that to my rabbits. If you don't know what to do with the parsley or collards and have any friends with pet buns, I bet they'd be happy to hear from you. :-)
posted by cupcakeninja at 6:45 PM on February 15

Make green goddess dressing with the watercress and parsley. Then make a nice salad.

You could make cabbage rolls and those would freeze well.
posted by vunder at 7:01 PM on February 15

Watercress is great in soups, perhaps French-style or Chinese.

I also love cabbage, caramelized or seared, with pasta such as this. Kenji also recently made pork dumplings with shredded cabbage, it’s on YouTube.

For the butter lettuce, I’m sure it’ll be tasty with chicken or tuna salad on top of it like salad cups or sandwiched between some nice bread.
posted by inevitability at 7:04 PM on February 15 [2 favorites]

I sometimes blanch and freeze sturdier greens for later use.
posted by deludingmyself at 7:10 PM on February 15 [1 favorite]

The cabbage you can just set in the back of the fridge in a plastic bag, it will keep for weeks or even months if need be. Worst case is you have to peel off a few layers of leaves.
posted by rockindata at 7:20 PM on February 15 [18 favorites]

Yeah, the cabbage will keep a long time.

One of my favorite things to do with cabbage is to slice it into thin steaks and roast it on a sheet pan, 425F for about 20min until soft and browned on the bottom. Brush with oil, salt and pepper. Roasted cabbage is absolutely delicious.
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 7:46 PM on February 15 [6 favorites]

Best answer: If you wash and dry the parsley (in a salad spinner, if you have one, on towels if you don't), you can layer it in a sealed container. Alternate a layer of parsley stems with a layer of paper towel, then seal shut. It will keep for weeks.
posted by OrangeDisk at 7:59 PM on February 15

I’d put the cabbage aside, eat the delicate things as salad until I was tired of it or they were on the verge of limpness, and then make a milk-based greens soup if I was feeling French ish or a really quick barely cooked saag if I wanted something spicier. Potatoes would be great in either!
posted by clew at 8:57 PM on February 15

I just made a soup of white beans, a *lot* of frozen kale and some cabbage, carrots, onion, chicken broth. I made quite a bit, put it in containers, and flavor it differently with vinegar or lemon or curry, and it's good on its own. Beans, collards, cabbage get you a nice soup. I often add sausage, but it was fine without it.
posted by theora55 at 9:02 PM on February 15 [2 favorites]

Ooooh a big ol’ soup with watercress, collards, and cabbage (all chiffonade’d)… maybe with black-eyed peas, garlic, lemon juice, maybe a little bit of sagey pork sausage, finished with parsley? Or done as a chicken soup with shiitake mushrooms, still with parsley? Or a white chili with cannelini beans, shredded chicken, a bit of cumin (that one might be better without the watercress)?

I love greens-dense stews.
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 9:07 PM on February 15

When I acquire random greens that I either have too much of or don't know what to do with, they get chopped and frozen or blended with water and frozen (in ice cube trays), and then they are smoothie supplies. (Whether or not I even bother to sort them by kind or toss the misfits all in one bag/container together in the freezer sort of depends on my mood at the time... and how often lately I've heard "why are there so many different bags of green cubes?" from other household members.

It works for even greens I actively dislike, because the flavor of just a cube or two pretty much disappears into a smoothie full of flavors I enjoy.
posted by stormyteal at 9:13 PM on February 15

Spanikopita would be delicious with the collards, watercress, and parsley.

Use the butter lettuce for tofu lettuce wraps

The cabbage will keep for forever, so use it last.
posted by mezzanayne at 10:07 PM on February 15 [1 favorite]

If you like cilantro at all, Samin Nosrat's Green Soup is delicious and takes all the greens you have except the cabbage (put the cabbage in sauerkraut.) I would personally put the butter lettuce in a big sandwich with mayo, mustard, and onion slices but I'm weird like that.

If you like cilantro at all, Samin Nosrat's Green Soup is delicious and takes all the greens you have except the cabbage (put the cabbage in sauerkraut.)

I don't think the sauce adds anything and I make this all the time, so here is my version: boil about 6 cups of vegetable stock and add all the greens you have (deboned if they are large like kale), 2 bunches of cilantro minus the stems, 4 minced cloves of garlic, and as soon as it all wilts down, add a lemon's worth of juice and zest and 1/4 cup of tahini. Liquefy once combined and correct the seasoning. It may need more lemon and a pinch of salt.

The greens need not be perfect so if you have a box of spinach languishing and starting to go, or random bags of frozen greens (I froze my wrongs!) you can put that in there and use it up.
posted by blnkfrnk at 10:44 PM on February 15 [2 favorites]

The watercress and collards could do very well in a saag paneer type dish which would keep better or even freeze well for later. Sweat them with ginger garlic onions and some spice (whole coriander seeds and some chilies) and blend into a sauce. Unhinging it from traditions I like either Priya Krishna’s suggestion of using feta, or the vegan recipe from serious eats with a miso marinated baked tofu.

Agreed that you need not be in a rush to eat the cabbage, I love eating it in all/any form whether raw or cooked, but my favorite thing about cabbage is how I can forget I had one in the back of the fridge and then BAM! fresh veggies without needing to leave the house or ordering anything from the store.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 11:08 PM on February 15

Response by poster: I know cabbage lasts forever, but please do share your favorite or most unusual or surprising cabbage uses with me anyway. I have definitely managed to get cabbage to a stage in the fridge that is unacceptable for anything but compost, plus this is a big one, plus plus I will be able to come back to your answers for ideas in the coming weeks when the cabbage needs using up.

I never thought of using the cress in a pesto/whatever the genre of herb based sauce is called. But I have some good frozen salmon and I think it would be great on that, so I’ll set some aside fresh for a salad and slap a bunch of garlic (and maybe walnuts??) into the rest and slather my baked salmon with whatever green concoction I devise.

Alas, I have no bunnies nor do I know anyone in person who has bunnies. I wish I did because I would just go live in their house.
posted by Mizu at 1:53 AM on February 16 [2 favorites]

A very British thing to do with cabbage is to make bubble and squeak - mix cooked shredded cabbage with leftover mashed potato, plus optionally any other sad looking leftovers you have, and then fry in butter or lard until it's nice and brown. Optionally melt cheese on top, or add a fried egg.
posted by quacks like a duck at 2:08 AM on February 16 [4 favorites]

I like cabbage in a stir fry- something like this with chicken, though I’d probably also include Szechuan peppercorns. Or a similar approach with beef or lamb with the addition of a bunch of cumin.
posted by yarrow at 5:01 AM on February 16

World’s best braised cabbage. Lives up to the name.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 5:34 AM on February 16

I would probably do an improv kuku sabzi with the Chard, parsley, and some of the cress. And many an end of cabbage + veg scraps has turned into Osaka/Kansai style okonomyiaki in my house.

Both of these use eggs pretty heavily. While these two dishes traditionally call for accoutrements not common in many western kitchens (barberries, seaweed) you can absolutely improv, particularly the okonomyiaki, which is why I'm not linking to particular recipes. (You do want a good sauce for the latter though.)
posted by cobaltnine at 6:05 AM on February 16

An exciting use for cabbage if you've got a whole one is gołąbki -- cabbage parcels with a filling of mincemeat and rice, stewed or baked in a cream-based tomato or mushroom sauce. There are lots of different recipes; the traditional meat to use in the filling is beef, but you can substitute any other kind of meat or even make it vegan. You can also add some of the fresh parsley to the filling.

I would use the lettuce and other fragile salad greens in salad wraps (if it's too cold for completely cold food, you could add warm fillings).

I have often ended up with too many fresh herbs that don't keep well (although I've had some luck with storing them wrapped in damp paper towels). I have a cheap dehydrator / biltong dryer which is basically a box with a computer fan and an optional lightbulb, and it's really handy for turning fresh herbs into dry herbs when I find myself in this situation (especially since there are some herbs I can inexplicably find fresh but not dried in my area). An oven set to "warm" with the door cracked open may also work for this.

You could also turn the parsley into herb butter, or blend it and freeze it in an ice cube tray for later use in cooking.
posted by confluency at 6:15 AM on February 16

My family likes Cabbage Patch Stew. Chopped Cabbage, onion, celery, plus canned tomatoes and kidney beans. It calls for ground beef, but I've made it with ground turkey or with diced chicken. I've linked to a recipe, but there are a lot with slight variations in the seasoning, so look around a bit.
posted by CathyG at 6:27 AM on February 16 [1 favorite]

For the butter lettuce, make Lettuce Wraps. (I don't have a recipe I use - this is just an example.)

The collard greens would be good in a soup, I think. i've got a recipe for a brothy bean soup where you layer in chiffonaded chard in the bowl before ladling the soup in. I don't know if your collards would need more than wilting, but putting them in a white bean soup would be delicious, something like this. Or any soup recipe that calls for kale, like a zuppa toscana would also work.

Yes, parsley will keep in the fridge - and all of these greens - if you wrap them in a tea towel and place in a plastic bag. But if you find yourself wanting the parsley to go away, you can chop it up and freeze it. Break off a bit of it when you need a some added to a dish.
posted by hydra77 at 6:53 AM on February 16

i have a big regular degular green cabbage in my fridge right now and I'm planning to make either or both of these:

Marcella Hazan's Smothered Cabbage Venetian Style (from her book but available a few places online like here). It freezes well so if I have a huge cabbage I just make a double batch and portion it in pint containers to add to soup later. I like it on rice with a fried egg and some parmesan, or i use it as a base for a barley or farro soup with a parmesan rind thrown in (usually also served up with a fried egg). Having made it many times, I like to keep the heat a little high for the braising time, so the cabbage gets some real color and ends up almost mahogany.

Okonomiyaki! You mentioned Japanese pickles, and my hesitation recommending this would be that it takes a little more of a pantry build than the smothered cabbage -- but maybe you'd be into that? There are a lot of recipes online and it's pretty flexible. I've worked loosely from this Serious Eats one recently. I haven't managed to find the yam but usually keep the okonomiyaki sauce, bonito, kewpie, dashi, and pickled ginger around. I've added shrimp, done it with or without pork, and finally settled into a pared down version without any added meat that comes together fast but is still sort of cheerfully maximalist when it hits the table.
posted by felix grundy at 7:44 AM on February 16

Best answer: That smothered cabbage recipe in the comment above mine is similar to how I cook cabbage, only I use butter (a whole stick) instead of olive oil, and add enough sweet paprika to turn the whole pot bright orange (if I ever measured it, the relevant unit would be tablespoons, plural). It's so good.
posted by aws17576 at 7:49 AM on February 16

I’ve posted our recipe for lettuce and smoked sausages soup before on AskMe. It also links to the original (vegan) recipe we adapted it from. It works with just about any green, the flavor and color varying a bit.
posted by telophase at 7:53 AM on February 16 [1 favorite]

The cabbage soup from Six Seasons (here adapted not very much by Smitten Kitchen) is one of the more delicious things I've ever eaten, and one of the coziest.
posted by dizziest at 7:55 AM on February 16

The New York Times cooking has a GREAT recipe for roasted cabbage with kielbasa and white beans in a vinegary dressing. It's a quick answer easy sheet pan meal that can easily use a half a big cabbage. It's in the regular winter rotation in our house. I recommend doubling the beans.

Yield:
4 servings
1medium Savoy cabbage (2 to 2½ pounds), cut through the root into 1-inch-thick wedges
¼cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for tossing the cabbage
Kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal) and black pepper
8ounces to 1 pound smoked kielbasa, diagonally sliced ¼-inch thick
¼cup red wine vinegar
¼cup finely chopped fresh dill
1shallot, finely chopped
4teaspoons Dijon mustard
1(14-ounce) can white beans, such as great Northern or cannellini, drained and rinsed

Step 1
Heat oven to 450 degrees. Add the cabbage to a rimmed baking sheet and toss with olive oil, salt and pepper to coat. Arrange in an even layer, then scatter the kielbasa on top. Roast without flipping until cabbage is tender and charred in spots and the kielbasa is deeply golden, 25 to 30 minutes.

Step 2
Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, stir together ¼ cup olive oil with the vinegar, dill, shallot, mustard, 2 teaspoons salt and a few grinds of pepper. Add the beans and stir to combine.

Step 3
Divide the cabbage and sausage among plates and spoon the beans and vinaigrette on top.
posted by foodmapper at 10:37 AM on February 16 [1 favorite]

Apologies if this is too simple or too obvious, but it was a revelation to me how much I like just basic buttered cabbage (and I don't even use a lot of butter). Chop up the cabbage and saute it with a bit of butter plus salt and pepper; it's even better if you add some dried thyme.

I can go through a quarter cabbage in a single sitting that way; some baked beans or cheese toast make it a nice substantial meal.
posted by kristi at 11:06 AM on February 16 [1 favorite]

You can also roast wedges of cabbage. Cut cabbage into eighths (wedges with the core intact to hold the wedge together). Brush with olive oil on both sides and season with salt and pepper. Roast at 425 or 450 for 15 minutes, flip and roast another 15 or until slightly charred. Drizzle with lemon juice, or with tahini and balsamic vinegar.
posted by expialidocious at 11:31 AM on February 16 [1 favorite]

Grind your cabbage. Salt it a bit and let it drain. Then saute in butter or oil until golden brown and delicious.

1. Mix the cabbage with those super skinny noodles.
2. Make or buy bread dough. Roll the dough out, put some of the cabbage on it and fold over into a pocket type thing. Dock and bake.
posted by kathrynm at 7:26 PM on February 16 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: and add enough sweet paprika to turn the whole pot bright orange (if I ever measured it, the relevant unit would be tablespoons, plural).

Aws17576 are we related?? This is indeed the correct way to use paprika. I was using up the inside of this cabbage today and basically did this, and thought “huh I should go look at my old AskMe and see if there are things I should mark” and there it is. I don’t know if you incepted me or not, but the cabbage was yum. Only a pat of butter at the end for flavor, but a bunch of paprika, first sautéed with the onion and garlic and flavoring the oil, then more with the cabbage, and more near the end. Added a couple splashes of maggi sauce too. Heck yeah.
posted by Mizu at 5:16 AM on March 17