What to Do with Greens Without Resorting to Boiled Cabbage
Don't you dare throw those turnip tops away
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Back in the UK, I had a weekly organic vegetable box from a local farm. My husband and I used to bet on how many of the vegetables would be brassicas each week. Cabbage, brussels sprouts, kale, cavolo nero - this was deepest, darkest England where the sun doesn’t shine so brassicas are about the only things that thrive.
The only respite from brassicas would be turnips. Then there were the beetroots that I would grow in the shady parts of my garden. And with all of these came bags and bags worth of tops.
There was a LOT of green veg to eat. And most people hate green veg.
I get it. Like many people, I was subjected to miserable, overcooked cabbage during my school years and thought I hated green veg for years.
I don’t think like this anymore. Green veg is awesome - it’s just about finding the right recipes.
After picking up some cavolo nero and beetroots in my local market this week, I too had a bag of green stuff languishing in my fridge. So I got creative and subjected my husband to a whole weekend of green-veg-fest.
I won’t lie - it was delicious.
You’ll never throw green veg away again once you’ve tried some of these recipes.
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Beetroot top and roasted almond pesto
Serves 4
10 x beetroot tops
15 x blanched whole almonds
15g parmesan
1 large garlic clove, finely chopped
2 tbsp good olive oil
1 tsp lemon zest
Salt and pepper to season
Heat some olive oil in a saucepan. Throw in the almonds and keep them moving until they’re golden in color. Drain them on some kitchen paper.
If you have a blender, roughly chop everything, stick it in and pulse until you have a rough paste. If like me you don’t have a blender, just finely chop the beetroot tops and almonds as much as you can before adding the rest of the ingredients.
I served this with gnocchi but it would work perfectly well on pasta too. Just cook the pasta / gnocchi until 30 seconds off being done, drain reserving some water. Put the pesto and pasta / gnocchi back in the pan, adding water and simmering for a minute or two until you’ve got a saucy consistency.
Swap out the almonds for pine nuts or hazelnuts.
Use turnip tops, cavolo nero, kale or savoy cabbage instead of beetroot tops. Or go classic with basil.
Cavolo nero chips
