Being urged by my doctor to eat more greens and other vegetables, I was curious to read The book of Greens - A Cook's Compendium by Jenn Louis. I do cook still for DH and myself, and I like to cook simple, easy and quick to assemble, staple recipes. Something in the order of meat loaf, mash potatoes, stew, baked chicken, etc. And for vegetables, I'm afraid for so long I just boiled or steamed them. So I thought this title would lend itself to my kitchen in putting more greens and veggies variety in our meals.
And it does. Ms Louis provided me with new ways to cook Bok Choy, Cabbage, Chard, Collard Greens, Kale, and Spinach. I even found recipes for two common weeds here in our neck of the woods: Purslane and Mallow. The purslane gets added to a lentil and rice dish - tasty good. The mallow is treated like okra for "when cooked down,.... is perfect to thicken stew--rabbit, chicken, beef, or fish."(p.176). I had been served this by a Syrian acquaintance and liked it, so I was glad to find a way for me to introduce it to my kitchen.
However, the rest of the greens in this book, while many, are not commonly found in my university town of 400k. They are probably more common in large metropolitan areas of a million plus residents that have more ethnic markets than ours. It was interesting reading about these greens (Agretti, Celtuce, Gai Lan, Malabar Spinach, Minutina and others. Louis gives one a paragraph or two about the history of the green and where it is from and how used. An example: Agretti was a staple Roman peasant food that became popular in the 19th century. It is native to Italy. The description is followed by a recipe or two - not all side dishes; some desserts and drinks. She has provided and excellent seasonal chart of when you'll find these in markets. There's also great info on how to buy, in what quantities and how to store these greens. The book is an attractive hardcover edition with signatures sewn into the spine for long lasting use.
I won't be keeping this on my cookbook cabinet in my kitchen. I think I will give it to one of my vegan friends after I finish making a copy of those recipes I want to try again. One in particular would be thrilled to get this book. She is a more adventurous cook than I.
I received this book (published by Ten Speed Press, a part of by Crown Publishing Group) from Blogging for Books for this review.
