I’m old enough to remember serving a Caprese salad to guests and watching their forks gingerly pick among the leaves, not sure what to make of this odd green sitting on top of tomatoes and mozzarella.
Then a wonderful thing happened. Caprese salads suddenly appeared on every other menu in Colorado and the Western world made friends with basil.
Guess it’s all about the marketing.
About a decade later, foodies and gardeners learned the difference between Genovese and Thai basil. Five years ago, I found Thai basil in our local Albertsons. Granted, it was in season maybe two weeks. A handful of Durango folks passed the good news via the telephone tree, wiping out the stock in days.
Thai chicken basil, or Thai basil chicken, depending on what cookbook you consult, (along with Pad Thai, it’s likely the burger and fries of Thailand) is defined by this wonderfully spicy basil. A pound of it stir-fries into a mere half cup that makes all the difference in the world when you are craving good Thai food.
One of the food stories on my horizon is a feature about the “ugly greens,” my name for the stepchildren of the greens world – tatsoi, escarole, mustard greens, chard and kale.
The latter two have gained some recognition because a vegetarian entrepreneur pounded kale into chips and doused them with salt, repurposing this humble and easy-to-grow vegetable into fast food.
Baby chard is mild enough that cooks use it as a spinach substitute in ravioli and dumpling fillings. Baby anything is suddenly desirable. Marketing again made the difference.
Often that’s what it takes to get the attention of folks who are curious but not risk-takers. Nutrition education programs such as Cooking Matters have introduced consumers to the nutritional value and availability of greens by adding them to soups, stews and easy stir-fries.
Cooking shows, especially television entertainment such as “Chopped,” in which competitors have no choice but to incorporate these odd ducks into their dishes, help, too.
Finally, farmers markets have helped shouldered the challenge by making these easy-to-grow greens visible. Sales would increase if they offered recipes – or better yet, samples of how good these greens can taste.
I’m pretty conscientious about getting seeds in my small garden patch in early May, but not so ambitious as summer advances and it’s time to replant the arugula and spinach for a second and maybe even a third harvest. I was late this year getting the Swiss chard in. I skipped the tatsoi all together because I could not find the seed. But, last month, when I missed the ideal time to harvest my arugula because I was out of town, I did not walk away from that row of mature, now too-spicy green. I cut it and used it in place of bok choi. Not a great substitution in the stir fry that night, but not too shabby, either.
I’m going to experiment the next time I make pesto, adding garlic scapes to whatever greens I can harvest – maybe even my overgrown radish tops. The nutrition – and often the most interesting and intense flavors – can be in the green parts we throw away.
This summer, I’m pledging to take more risks, and I promise to share what I learn.
