Arugula: Popular in salads, this peppery green is also a great companion to charred or grilled steak, but that’s not all. Dishes like our Creamy Fettuccine With Corn and Arugula, take full advantage of this green’s crowd-pleasing flavor, while offering a perfect option for a quick weeknight meal. A good dose of iron and vitamins A and C is an extra bonus. Spinach: Popeye’s preferred green is also one of ours. Rich in flavor, with tender stems that are also edible, spinach boasts an impressive array of nutrients, including riboflavin, B6, folate, and magnesium. Widely available year-round, fresh spinach is yummy in salads, pastas, and egg dishes; blended into smoothies; or simple sautéd with a little olive oil or butter, along with salt and pepper for a tasty side dish or baked potato topping. Radish Greens: Cooking with “tops” (from carrots, beets, radishes, and turnips) is popular these days, and for good reason: tops taste great and give you a extra bang for your buck. As long as they’re in good condition (perky and unblemished), there’s no reason not to give peppery radish greens a good rinse and use them in any way you’d use watercress (see above). Tatsoi: A kin to cabbage, tatsoi has tender little leaves that are sweet with a hint of pepper. Use them fresh in salads, or cook with them the same way you would with spinach. Swiss Chard: Also called chard, this cruciferous vegetable is a member of the beet family. Along with fiber, vitamin C, and magnesium, chard offers hefty amounts of the antioxidant vitamin E and a very high dose of vitamin K. Multiple varieties of chard are commonly found in supermarkets, including those with rainbow, red, and white-colored stems, which can be trimmed and cooked along with leaves. Try serving sautéed chard alongside meats or fish; in vegetarian dishes, like this favorite with chickpeas and couscous; and, of course, pastas. You can even use chard to make fritters! Beet Greens: If the tops of beets are fresh and peppy (not wilted), by all means cook them—tender stems and all. Stems can be chopped and cooked alongside greens. Toss cooked beet greens into pastas and rice dishes, or enjoy them as a side to meats, fish and/or other vegetables. Mustard Greens: These robustly peppery greens can be used in salads or cooked into pastas or lentil stews. Mustard greens are another member of the cabbage family and boast hearty amounts of vitamin C along with beta carotene, folate, calcium, and iron. Collards: Famously delicious with bacon, collards—another healthy cruciferous vegetable—are also delicious creamed, or wilted with ginger and coconut milk.
