I can be a bit picky about my greens but the colour can help me appreciate them – I like the idea of mixing them up – broccoli and spinach are probably most regular greens but I took delight in silverbeet this week – tahini and lemon are good flavourings

I’m with you. I love greens all ways, so long as they are fresh and clean. Yum!

I loooove greens. Even simple steamed spinach makes me happy (especially when it’s topped with a nice poached egg!). My favorite way to make greens yummy is to saute blanched greens with onion and garlic. Chard, spring greens, spinach – anything goes. I also like to add greens to things like soups and dals. Rocket is awesome – raw or slightly wilted. I love adding rocket to pasta, especially when the pasta’s tossed with sauteed garlic and olive oil.

I think the reason these goodies get a bad name is because people often limit themselves so much in what they eat and do with their food. It’s that whole boring meat and two veg idea, where the flavour comes from the meat and the vegetables are just there to complement. I know so many people who think this way and it drives me nuts…

Off my high horse, I’ve got to say I adore my greens :) I’ve got a big bunch of spinach in the fridge with my name on it!

I definitely eat my greens mixed into dishes rather than on the side. Also on sandwiches. I’ll have to try the combination idea too – it might be a good way to approach the problem of how to deal with a whole cabbage (rather daunting I think).

I’m with you, Kathryn & Darya. I love greens all ways but especially, fresh from the garden. Even eating them “naked” (the greens, not me) is a tasty treat.

I feel like I could become an evangelist for the virtues of growing your own salad greens. I should problem subdue my enthusiasm before I become annoying. I will just say even the freshest store-bought mesclun does not compare with freshly-cut salad greens from the garden. And the cost-savings…huge.

One way I love to eat the small leaf lettuce is on of top thinly sliced bread spread with soft cheese.

This is a really good reminder Kathryn. A mixture of greens is so much more interesting to eat than just one variety on its own.

We have green cabbage, leek and broccoli all chopped up small then steamed and drizzled with lemon juice and olive oil. It has never occurred to me to add herbs to the greens mixture – I’ll have to try this next time round

Hated silverbeet when I was small, but from about 10 onwards, I’ve adored all greenery. The word ‘healthy’ is like a rag to a red (child) bull, but I think it’s the bitterness that small people don’t like. Cook it well – and season beautifully – drop healthy as Stephanie says, and Bob’s your Auntie’s live in lover.

At the moment I’m addicted to rocket (arugala) sauteed with other, sweeter greens. Onions sweated in oil, big splash of mirin, in with a tin of chickpeas, a bunch of chopped coriander, a pinch of sweet (or smoked) paprika and then the greens.

Also, big pile of nicely steamed, chopped broccoli (the stem’s the best bit!) + squeeze of lemon + little crumble of feta = yum-o.

Lovely to hear from so many greens lovers!

Tahini and lemon are two of my favourite combinations as well Johanna. I love the way the tahini slightly melts in the heat, and makes a more creamy sauce. And Monica, I’m also a fan of putting a poached egg on top of greens (and soups) – such an easy way to add protein.

I often add handfuls of herbs to salads and cooked greens – treating them more like another vegetable. It’s a great way to use up leftover half bunches, etc.

Elaine – your recent lettuce harvest has been a good reminder for how simple it is to grow these little beauties. After a few days down at my parents I can agree about garden-cut being so much better than shop-bought.

And Lucy – love your two ideas, especially the mirin and with the chickpeas that makes a whole meal, instead of just a side to something else.

I still can’t go past Heston Blumenthal’s way of cooking broccoli as the best. But a little lemon and feta would spark that up even more.

Quickly blanched greens (english spinach, asian greens etc…) then lightly fried in oil and lots of garlic and a dash of vegan fish/oyster/stirfry sauce. Yummo! Or tons of fresh mixed lettuce and corriander on a salad sandwich with hummous, grated carrot, tomato and grated radish.

Spannakopita is the best way to get through loads and loads of spinach (or silverbeet) if you happen to have heaps of it all at once (which is what invariably happens when you grow your own). I’m with Stephanie Alexander, I haven’t told the resident toddler that it’s healthy, or exhorted him to eat his greens, and he loves it. Today at least, you never can tell what he’ll eat tomorrow.

We’ve probably not used “healthy” in chatting about food, but we do talk about what different foods do for your body. Dinner was held up a few nights ago over a discussion about vitamins and what they did; we ended up reading through Rosemary Stanton’s book on Vitamins to find answers. All through dinner they chatted on excitedly, and funnily enough stopped focusing on the food item being so “yuck”…

The kidlets aren’t overly keen on green leaves – they do like using leaves as a wrap for fillings, or experimenting with different types of vinegar and oil to see what the flavours are – and eat the green stuff on the way. And they adore running out to pick their own herbs for sprinkling. We all love braised silverbeet, and kale with a bit of sesame oil/soy/sugar/fish sauce scores highly too.

My friend brought her 3 year old son to my last cooking class. When I offered him some chips, he took one. And another. And another.

They were kale chips. My friend says he doesn’t like greens but that little guy ate his fair share with no complaints!

I hate green vegetables.

I also hate yellow, red, or purple vegetables.

I eat them anyway.

Love the way a cheeseburger tastes, but even more I love the way I feel after eating greens. Vegetables never make me bad the way a greasy meal does.

Even though I don’t love greens, they love me.

Sarah – blanching greens and then sauteeing with olive oil and garlic is one of my favourite strategies too.

Kate – I was just thinking about spanakopita today, after seeing Peter from Souvlaki for the Soul’s recipe which looks chockablock full of greens. My nephews love this kind of food as well.

Em – you’ve reminded me of a client who talks to her kid’s about super-foods. Not the heavily marketed, acai berry promoting concept, but straight fruits and vegetables, greens, oily fish and so on. The kids love it and have embraced the idea, counting up the number of super-foods they’ve had at the end of each day. I think in their heads it’s translating to superhero foods.

Good work Michelle. Kale chips sound really interesting, have you posted a recipe?

Merry – despite your dislike you still eat them. If only the vegetable-hating 25% of my clients would take that attitude. Sometimes you’ve just got to do the right thing, even though a cheeseburger, glass of wine and tub of fudge brownie ice-cream might be the more attractive option. Well done.

I’d like to say that I hope Elaine up above DOESN’T subdue her enthusiasm for being an evangelist on the virtues of growing our own salad greens! People spending money on over-priced and less-than-fresh, less-than-local greens at the supermarket is MUCH more annoying, and ultimately has much greater (negative) impacts on everyone’s health and wealth. (Think carbon emissions and fossil fuel use inherant in modern agriculture, think long term health issues paid for by taxpayers, that home vegie gardeners will almost certainly avoid)
I like all greens, and I am focusing on eating more of them raw. But all the ideas posted here are so mouth watering and inspiring!

interesting! coincidentally I just started keeping a food diary a few days ago, just to ‘check in’ with what I was eating. Here’s how it looks:

Monday
Granola with oat milk, raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, low fat natural yogurt
Two cups of yogi green tea
Salad with rocket, coriander leaves, grated carrot, spring onion, courgette, red pepper, pine nuts, hummus, olives, one small piece spelt and sunflower seed bread
Skinny latte
Poached egg, asparagus, two small pieces spelt and sunflower seed bread with butter
Chamomile and mint tea

Tuesday
Granola with oat milk, blueberries, pear and low fat natural yoghurt
One cup green yogi tea
Skinny latte
One and a half Dr Karg crisp bread (wholegrain, pumpkin seed and emmental) with hummus, olives, tomato and basil; melon; strawberries
New potato salad with coriander, rocket, spring onions, chopped tomatoes and EVOO; poached egg; asparagus
Chamomile and mint tea

I’ve been wondering about swapping my usual skinny latte for a soy latte – I wonder what the health pros / cons of such a swap are, Kathryn? I imagine soy lattes have more calories than skinny, but I do wonder whether my slightly sluggish digestion would improve if I cut the cows milk.

Any advice would be appreciated! I do love your blog :-)

whoops! wrong blog post. have reposted in right place, sorry for inconvenience.