A Guide to Loving Winter Greens

A Guide to Loving Winter Greens
Think you don't want to eat chard and kale? Clearly you haven't tried the eight inspired recipes on the next page


Photographs by David Prince for The Wall Street Journal, Food Styling by Brett Kurzweil
Clockwise from top left: turnip greens, collard greens, swiss chard, chicory, kale and cavolo nero.

Brave a cold walk through a farmers' market anywhere other than Southern California right now and you'll likely tire of seeing so much that's big, leafy and green. Multiple varieties of kale, chicory and mustard greens are in season with a vengeance, crowding out colorful produce and dulling our culinary creativity. Summer bounty like tomatoes and corn we buy up blindly, figuring we'll find something to do with them—or just eat them plain. But hulking bunches of cavolo nero? Not always the most mouthwatering prospect. Yet greens are versatile, flavorful and bursting with the kind of nutrients we're depleted of in the wake of the holidays. And there are all kinds of interesting and, yes, delicious ways to cook them, as chefs around the country are proving: They're spiking collards with bright Asian flavors, throwing chicory on the grill and shredding kale into refreshing winter salads. Turn the page for eight recipes that will keep you entertained until that first tender asparagus spear shows up.

—Katherine Wheelock
Wilted Collards With Ginger and Shoyu
A light, flavorful dish to accompany steamed fish or roasted pork—or simply serve over a big bowl of rice. Serves 4.

Blanch 2 pounds baby collard greens—stemmed, leaves cut into ½-inch strips—for 30 seconds in a large pot of boiling salted water and shock them in ice water. Drain and squeeze as dry as possible. // Transfer collards to a large bowl and toss with your fingers to separate, adding 2 tablespoons shoyu or regular soy sauce and ½ teaspoon toasted sesame oil and distributing evenly. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a medium sauté pan over medium-low heat. Add 2 tablespoons thinly julienned ginger, and 2 crumbled dried red chiles. // Sauté for 1 minute, raise the heat to medium and add the collards. Season with salt and toss to coat. Add 2/3 cup chicken stock and cook, stirring frequently, for 3 minutes. Season with additional salt if necessary and serve.

—Andrea Reusing of Lantern, Chapel Hill, N.C.; author of "Cooking in the Moment" (April 2011, Clarkson Potter)
Parmesan Broth With Swiss Chard and White Beans
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Parmesan broth with Swiss chard and white beans

A deeply satisfying soup that can compete with chicken noodle as a winter cure-all.Serves 4 to 6.

Over low heat, steep 8 cups chicken stock with 8 ounces Parmesan rinds for about 45 minutes, until the rinds are soft. Strain the liquid and reserve. // In a heavy-bottomed soup pot, sauté 1 smashed garlic clove in 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat until garlic just begins to color. Add 1 dried red chili, crumbled; 4 cups loosely packed Swiss chard, stems removed and leaves cut into ribbons; and stir to coat. //Add the warm, strained stock and 2 cups canned cannellini beans and bring to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper and add a teaspoon lemon zest. To serve, ladle soup over a slice of toasted country bread and drizzle with olive oil. —Sara Jenkins of Porsena and Porchetta, New York

Mustard Greens Braised With Ginger, Cilantro and Rice
A quick braise and a one-two punch of ginger and cilantro that adds up to a restorative one-pot meal. Serves 4 to 6.

Heat 3 tablespoons oilive oil in a wide, heavy pot over medium heat. Add 1 onion, diced; ¼ cup white rice; 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh ginger; and 1 teaspoon each ground cumin and paprika. Stir to coat with oil. Cook for 2 minutes, then add 1 cup chopped cilantro (leaves and stems) and 2 bunches mustard greens, stems removed. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt, cover, and cook until volume reduces, about 10 to 15 minutes. // Stir, reduce heat to low, cover and cook slowly for 30 to 40 minutes. Check occasionally and if the pan seems dry, add a few tablespoons water. // Cook 10 minutes more, until greens are so tender they're silky, and serve warm or at room temperature, with plain yogurt spooned on top or just a squeeze of fresh lemon. —Deborah Madison, author of "Local Flavors" (Clarkson Potter)

Grilled Chicories With a Crispy Fried Egg
Lightly charred winter lettuces bathed in pancetta dressing to erase all memories of summer's grilled vegetables. Serves 4. Place a handful of outer leaves from four bunches of mixed chicories like escarole, frisée, radicchio and curly endive in a bowl along with leaves separated from the base of 1 Belgian endive and add some olive oil, salt, pepper, a splash of water and mix. // In a separate bowl, combine ¼ cup red wine vinegar and 1 minced shallot and whisk in 2 tablespoons honey, 3 tablespoons rendered pancetta or bacon fat (from about ¼ pound pancetta, sautéed in a pan over medium heat) and ½ cup olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. The dressing should taste sharp but balanced by the honey. // Pile the chicories on a hot grill pan and move them around with tongs so leaves get slightly charred and steamed at the same time. When they begin to soften, return them to a bowl. Meanwhile, get a cast-iron skillet hot and fry a farm egg sunny-side up until the whites begin to set but the yolk is still runny. // Toss the still-warm chicories with the dressing and serve with the crispy egg and a bit of shaved Parmesan on top.

—Travis Lett of Gjelina, Venice Beach, Calif.
Kale With Kimchi Butter
A cure for kale fatigue in the form of steamed greens drizzled with umami-rich kimchi butter—the perfect match for grilled steak. Serves 4 to 6 as a side dish.

Trim, wash and blanch 3 bunches each of curly kale and Tuscan kale in a big pot of boiling salted water for about 3 minutes. Shock the kale in ice water for 1 minute, then drain and spread on paper towels to dry. // To make kimchi butter: Bring 2/3 cup water to boil in a small pot. Cut 8 ounces unsalted butter into small chunks and whisk into the water. Reduce the heat to low and add 1 teaspoon honey, 2 tablespoons fish sauce (preferably Three Crabs brand), 2 tablespoons sambal sauce (available at Asian markets), 1 teaspoon finely grated garlic, 2 tablespoons finely grated fresh ginger and ¼ cup rice wine vinegar. Whisk until mixed well. // To serve, warm the kale leaves in a pot with a splash of water and heat the kimchi butter. Distribute the kale on plates and drizzle over about 3 tablespoons kimichi butter per plate. Finish with a sprinkle of toasted pine nuts and fleur de sel.

—Ludo Lefebvre of LudoBites, Los Angeles
Delicata Squash and Kale Salad
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Delicata Squash and Kale Salad

A zesty marriage of two winter heavyweights—no slow-cooking required. Serves 4 to 6.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Peel a medium squash's skin off with a knife, not a peeler. Cut the squash in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds with a spoon, then cut it into pieces about 2 inches long and 1 inch thick. Place the squash on a baking sheet lined with foil, drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper and bake for 25 minutes, until very tender. // Remove the squash from the oven and toss with ½ tablespoon chopped parsley, the zest of half an orange and a drizzle of olive oil; let cool. // In a mixing bowl, toss the cooled squash with half a minced shallot, ½ cup raw shredded kale, ¼ cup shaved Parmesan, 1 tablespoon shaved radish, 1 tablespoon crushed toasted pecans, ½ tablespoon each of chopped parsley and chives and 3 teaspoons fresh-squeezed lemon juice. Drizzle with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper to taste.

—Michael Paley of Proof on Main, Louisville, Ky.
Pasta With Mustard Greens and Lamb Sausage
A quick, hardy pasta guaranteed to become a weeknight staple—and shave minutes off your time spent staring down farmers' market mustard greens. Serves 4 to 6.

Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to boil. Season 2 pounds ground lamb with 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped; 2 tablespoons crushed red pepper; 1 tablespoon dried oregano; and a pinch of salt. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. // Add the seasoned lamb and cook for 5 minutes, breaking it into pieces with a spoon to prevent large clumps. Add ¼ cup heavy cream and 2 tablespoons water and let it cook down until only a couple of tablespoons of liquid remain. Add 1 bunch mustard greens, stems removed and leaves roughly chopped, and let wilt. // Cook 1 pound of bucatini, maccheroncini or anneloni according to package instructions. Drain, toss immediately with sauce, and toss again with ¼ cup grated Pecorino. If you like, add 3 tablespoons breadcrumbs crisped in hot olive oil in a frying pan. Adjust seasoning and serve.

—Sara Jenkins
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Cavolo Nero Caesar Salad

Cavolo Nero Caesar Salad
Kale Caesar! A clever, nutritionally superior twist on the classic salad—complete with DIY croutons and a heap of Parmesan. Serves 4 to 6. To make the dressing, place the zest of 1 lemon, 3 cloves peeled garlic and 6 olive-oil-packed anchovy fillets in a mortar and pestle and pound into a thick paste. Add 1 egg yolk, a pinch of salt and a squeeze of lemon juice and stir thoroughly to combine. While stirring, slowly stir in ½ cup of a total of 2 cups olive oil. // Continue to add a slow stream of olive oil, periodically stopping to add a squeeze of lemon. Add more salt and lemon juice to taste. Add water as needed to thin the dressing to the consistency of heavy cream. To make croutons, toss a few torn-up slices of ciabatta or whole wheat bread with olive oil and salt and toast in the oven at 375 degrees until just golden. // For the salad, combine 2 pounds cavolo nero (also called Tuscan, Lacinato or Dinosaur kale), center stems removed and leaves torn, with croutons in a large bowl. Pour dressing over the top and toss to coat. Add ½ cup grated or shaved Parmesan, toss again, and serve.

—Ignacio Mattos of Il Buco, New York