More about Greens

We receive a lot of greens each week. Several pounds in fact! I used to make a lot of pestos and freeze quite a bit (more on easy freezing method below), and that worked when harvests ended at Thanksgiving, but now that it continues well into February, I want to use as much as I can when fresh, or things sit in my freezer and eventually are tossed due to freezer burn. Some greens can be used in multiple ways so I sometimes split them up shortly after I receive them - for instance I will put a few dandelion leaves with the salad greens and put the rest in the cooking group.

My strategy is to group greens into how I will use them - salads, smoothies, cook, preserve (either freeze or pesto/pistou for me)

Smoothies - regular smoothie eaters know how they like theirs. I mostly use kale and Swiss chard but have also used mizuna and the greens mix.
Salads - lettuces, arugula, spinach, dandelion, small Swiss chard and kale leaves, mizuna, small greens mix leaves.
Cooked - Tat soi, kale, Swiss chard, greens mix, broccoli raab, mustard greens, dandelion. Find recipes on this site or others and remember that many of the greens are interchangeable so if a recipe asks for spinach to be added, save your spinach for a salad, and add any or all of this list to the recipe instead.
Pesto, Pistou - arugula, broccoli raab - I have found for the raab that if the garlic is roasted before using in the pesto it makes it less bitter. Blanching prior to use helps too.
Preserving - any of the greens listed in the cooked line. A fellow member shared a great method of preserving that is so simple! Bring a large pot of water to a boil. While the water is heating, prepare whatever greens you want to preserve - remove thick stems, yellowing leaves, and rinse well. Place a colander in the sink and fill with the greens. Carefully pour boiling water over the greens and allow to drain. When cool enough to handle, squeeze the water out and make the greens into balls. Place into freezer containers or bags and freeze. So easy to pull a ball or two out of the freezer to add to soups and stews!