How to cook and use green vegetables?

Green vegetables like kale and collard greens are the best foods you can eat on this planet. These veggies when cooked properly can be very palatable and nutritious. But most people may never use them because they can't be used to make a salad, which is most commonly used in the West and they do not know how to cook even if they want to.

Friday Dec 12, 2008 (foodconsumer.org) -- Green vegetables like kale and collard greens are the best foods you can eat on this planet. These veggies, when cooked properly, can be very palatable and nutritious. But most people may never use them because they can't be used to make a salad, which is most commonly used in the West, and they do not know how to cook them even if they wanted to. 

Asians know how to cook green vegetables. Normally, they use some cooking oil in a hot wok and heat it until just before it catches fire, then pour in the chopped vegetables and stir fry them. And then add some water if the vegetable does not contain enough water, put the lid on, and continue cooking for 5 to 10 minutes. Salt can be added to the pan before or after the chopped vegetables. This cooking method can turn veggies into a very good dish. 

One problem is that when you heat cooking oil (vegetable oil), a small amount of the oil will be converted into trans fat and you never know that. 

The alternative way to cook them is to cook the chopped vegetables and then at the end of cooking, add oil. The problem with this method is that because you avoid heating oil at high temperatures, no oil is decomposed and the dish you thus prepare does not smell as good. But you can use virgin olive oil, which can add some natural good taste and smell to your dish. 

To sum it up, 

1) Heat the wok or frying pan to medium high temperature;

2) Add chopped veggies (let's say 1 pound); cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute;

3) Add some water (1 or 2 oz.) if the veggies are like kale and collard greens and do not contain much water;

4) Put a lid on the cooker; cook it for 5 to 10 minutes to make sure it is well cooked but still retains much of the green color. The color will change a bit after the cooking;

5) Add salt (a half teaspoon or whatever you like) and mix it well; Taste it. If it is not salty enough, add some more. If it is too salty, add a bit of water;

6) Add olive oil (one or two teaspoons), Stir and mix everything well.

7) Enjoy it while still hot or warm. Make sure the temperature drops to below 60 degrees Celsius so you won’t get hurt. 

You’d better use your dish while it is warm. You will have a better experience eating your cooked veggies that way.

By David Liu Ph.D., and edited by Heather Kelley.
Dec 12, 2008 - 11:41:23 AM