Mustard Greens

This is a mustard green leaf.  This is the first season I've ever tried to grow and eat mustard greens, so I'm still intrigued by this vegetable.  Apparently, mustard greens count as a cruciferous vegetable, and are packed with nutrition.  Folks on the interweb are saying that of all the cruciferous vegetables, mustard greens might even have the most good stuff to prevent cancer.  Cool.   

We have been making slow progress to move the saturated bales of straw from around the house foundation.  Brandon put four or five bales in the greenhouse, and I used the little patties of wet and moldy straw to pave around the beds of greens.  They work wonders to smash down all the weeds and make a nice place to walk, although it's heavy work to move them.  I can only lift a thin wedge in each hand, so I have to make lots of trips to the bale and back.  

I like the way the mustard green leaves grow broad and flat, and they are easy to pick off of each plant.  

I swish them in water to make sure there isn't any gritty dirt on the leaves.  Gritty greens are the worst!

I can wad up a big bunch and sort of roll it into a tube, and slice the tub into thin strips with my knife.  This makes nice cut pieces to cook, so no one has to chew a whole leaf at one time.  Someone asked me if I really eat six cups of greens a day.  Yes, I try too.  I measured this mess of greens, and it was eight cups raw.  Brandon and I each ate half, so just for dinner we ate four cups each, and that's not even including the onion and radish that I cooked with it.  

The onions and radish cook for a while in the coconut oil before I add the chopped mustard greens, which take only moments to cook down. 

For this batch I added sea salt, onion and garlic powder, and big drizzle of Braggs liquid amino acids, which gives it a soy sauce flavor. 

My twelve year old self would have been disappointed with mustard greens, baked chicken, and sweet potato for dinner, but the middle aged me thinks its delicious!