Every Friday, Leslie's friend Sarah sends dispatches from upstate New York where she tends her organic garden.The drawing of feathery red leaves on the seed packet prompted an impulse buy. I really second-guessed myself too. I thought, I don't cook mustard greens; they won't get eaten. But I felt down, needy. What if I saw that picture in real life on the bottom floor of my garden, casting lacy shadows on the rocks? That sure would be nice.
It is. See?
When picked young, friends and I nibbled on handfuls of young leaves, and turned them into salads dressed with only salt and oil. Flavors of mustard and pepper made us goofy, delirious; these greens were hallucinogenically alive. I tasted hot Chinese mustard, horseradish firecracker mustard, sun-dazzled mustard mustard; I'd never tasted greens like this; I had never tasted mustard. As they aged, they required cooking—stems chopped tiny, cooked low and long with garlic til tender. The results were more like any other green, but still said quietly, mustard.
Now I wonder about all those other vegetables I planted just to look pretty. What other senses will they satisfy?
2 comments:
Love your blog, ladies. I too am from upstate NY and recently ate some of the most delicious greens that a friend brought over. I did a google search and voila! found that it was RED MUSTARD. From there, your page emerged. I am thrilled to become a follower of your missives!!
Cook on!
Looking up Red Mustard since I bought some at a tiny organic produce stand in our neighborhood (Seattle) and it was one of the limited offerings, but only $1 for a giant bunch. Seems too strong to eat raw--put small amount in a blended green drink and seemed too much for my stomach but it was good boiled. I was rather disturbed by the purple water resulting but presume it is edible. Perhaps parboiled and then sauteed. Probably can eat it raw when young, but we do not have room to grow anything in our condo.
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