Greens We Can Believe In

It may be small potatoes in the overall scheme of things, but with folks looking to stretch their food budgets and embrace a more sustainable lifestyle, this strikes me as a great case of leading by example. And besides, gardening is fun, too!

The Obamas will feed their love of Mexican food with cilantro, tomatilloes and hot peppers. Lettuces will include red romaine, green oak leaf, butterhead, red leaf and galactic. There will be spinach, chard, collards and black kale. For desserts, there will be a patch of berries. And herbs will include some more unusual varieties, like anise hyssop and Thai basil. A White House carpenter who is a beekeeper will tend two hives for honey.

Total cost for the seeds, mulch, etc., is $200.

Hyssop? Boy, even for foodies, that's a pretty obscure culinary herb. You find it mentioned in Apicius, and it was a kitchen staple in Roman times, but you don't find a lot of recipes that call for it now. And Thai (a.k.a. “holy”) basil is notoriously delicate, difficult to grow, and requires a great deal of tending after. (Trust me, I've grown it, and found it more trouble than it was worth.)

As for Obama's disdain for beets, well heck, the Baron’s not too fond of them, either, but he loves the part of the plant most folks discard right away: The greens, which, to my palate, are among the tastiest and most succulent of all the so-called “bitter” greens. They’re filled with potassium, vitamin C and beta carotene, among other nutrients, and while they’re extremely perishable (cook ‘em the same day you buy ‘em at the market; they wilt quickly once separated from the root), they’re super-easy to cook. So, for our Unitary Gourmet and the First Gardener, a Baron-tested recipe fit for a preznit. It’s slightly hot and spicy, too, since we know Barack kinda likes his grub that way:

Baron's Spicy Beet Greens
1 tbsp mustard oil or extra virgin olive oil
2 dried red chiles (optional)
1 tsp whole black or yellow mustard seeds
1 onion, peeled and halved, cut into 1/8-inch half rings
4 medium bunches beet greens, washed and rinsed, tough lower stems removed, cut crosswise into 1-inch strips
1 tbsp turmeric
1/2 cup best-quality chicken or vegetable stock
Salt and pepper to taste
1 pinch garam masala (optional)

In a stockpot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat, add the oil. When the oil begins to smoke, add the dried chiles and mustard seeds. When the chiles start to blacken and mustard seeds start to pop, add the onion and turn the heat down to medium, cooking until the onions turn a golden brown, approximately 5 minutes. Add the beet greens in batches to the pot (they may not all fit at once), stirring until all the greens have begun to wilt, approximately 3 to 4 minutes. Add the turmeric and stir thoroughly to combine. Add the stock, salt and pepper. Turn the heat up to boil, then reduce to a medium simmer. Cook, partially covered, for approximately 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until all of the liquid has evaporated from the pan. Remove the dried chiles from the pot, sprinkle with the garam masala, and serve hot. Serves 4 as a side dish.

Don’t like beet greens? This recipe works equally well for chard, kale, mustard greens or collards. (H/t Madhur Jaffrey.)

And Barack, please, please, get that woman some proper garden attire!

---Vitelius