Greens Glossary

If the greens below sound tasty to you, please check out our recipes!

Arugula
Also known as rocket, arugula is served raw in salad mixes and adds a spicy, toasted flavor. Larger leaves may be cooked. Best for those who like spice.

Beet Greens
Remove from beets as soon as possible to prevent wilting and tear leaves off thick stems. Beet greens taste very much like beets, are fairly tender and cook quickly by steaming, stir-frying or sautéing.

Bok Choi
Classified as a cabbage, this Asian green looks quite distinct with large, dark green leaves and a white stalk. Bok choi has a unique, rich taste that is not spicy or bitter, and is chewy in texture. A great staple for stir-fries and other Asian dishes, it can be steamed or sautéed.

Broccoli Rabe
A member of the mustard family, broccoli rabe has large, dark green leaves and a bitter and pungent taste. It may also have small heads that resemble broccoli and edible yellow flowers. Broccoli Rabe is a common vegetable in the cuisines of Southern Italy, Spain and China.

Collard Greens
One of the tougher and more strongly flavored greens. Blanching quickly in simmering water prior to cooking in a recipe will help tone down any bitterness. Traditional in African-American cooking.

Dandelion Greens
Your unsprayed lawn may yield some salad fixings. Often used in Italian cuisine, dandelion greens provide a bitter undertone. The young greens will add a bite to your salad and the older ones can be tossed in with milder greens like kale in most recipes.

Kale
A member of the cruciferous vegetable family, and related to cabbage, kale may be the oldest known green. It comes in many varieties, all of which are usually not bitter when winter weather sweetens them up. Our farm offers green curly, and flat-leafed lacinato kale.

Komatsuna
A large, glossy, leafy green which is related to the turnip family and resembles bok choi. It can be steamed or sautéed but as it matures, Komatsuna will grow stronger and hotter in flavor.

Mesclun Mix
Our mesclun mix includes: arugula, baby lettuce, komatsuna, red Russian kale, tat soi, and occasionally baby beet greens and baby mustard greens.

Mizuna
A Japanese green with long pointy leaves, mizuna is one of the mildest greens. It can be used in salads or added to other greens when sautéed or stir-fried.

Mustard Greens
A tough, spicy cruciferous green often used in Southern cooking but also a terrific flavor-booster when young leaves are added to a salad. Mustard greens come in red or green and the young red leaves can add a nice color to salads.

Sorrel
A wild green with a terrific lemony taste. Young leaves liven up salads and more mature leaves add a lemony flavor when cooked. Since sorrel turns pea green when cooked, it won’t add much bright color. Add parsley to “green” up recipes using sorrel.

Spinach
A standard used frequently and available year-round. Good raw or cooked, it may be substituted for many other greens in recipes, especially where color is important. Spinach cooks more quickly than tougher greens like beet, kale, chard or collards, and therefore, cooking times may need to be adjusted accordingly.

Sweet Potato Greens
Yes, they are edible! These greens taste similarly to spinach but with a smoother finish. Great steamed, sautéed or added to soups.

Swiss Chard
Tastes like beet greens, but comes in red and green varieties, with the red variety usually more tender. Separate the leaves and stem, and cook the tougher stems first. Large leaves are great for stuffing. Swiss chard can be used interchangeably with spinach or beet greens in most recipes.

Tat Soi
An Asian green with small, rounded leaves, which grow in a pattern resembling a rose.  As such, they make great decorations. Not at all bitter, tat soi can be sautéed whole or with leaves separated, used in salads or added to stir-fries.

Turnip Greens
One of the heartier greens, somewhat spicy with an earthy turnip taste. Remove leaves from the stems and discard stems. Turnip greens can be used interchangeably with Swiss chard, kale or beet greens, depending on the other flavors in the recipe. If especially though, these greens may benefit from blanching before cooking.

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