Thursday, August 4, 2011

Don't Waste Stems from Dark Leafy Greens; Cook Them!

A way to help combat rising food prices is by using all components of the food we buy or grow. For example, carrot tops are great thrown into a chicken soup or when making stock.

Also, think about using the stems of dark leafy greens. Yesterday for lunch I sautéed a bunch of vegetables (scallions, garlic, zucchini, carrots, string beans) and threw i
n the stems (chopped) from purple kale (photo, right) as well. Better there than in the garbage!
The previous day, I sautéed chopped broccoli leaf stems (photo, left). Seasoned with a little unrefined sea salt, fresh ground pepper and lemon juice, they made a great side dish.

2 comments:

Clair said...

Thanks for this! The first time I made kale, all the recipes told me to discard the stems. I couldn't bear it, so I just threw them in, and they were great!

kara said...

Great idea. I save kale stems (along with carrot peels, potato peels, onion bits and just about any veggie scrap) for a healthy stock.