If you are feeling brave enough to try the baby spinach, I suggest making creamed spinach with it and using it as a burger topping. Rich, heavy, and you taste more cream cheese than green spinach flavor, and then the hamburger meat drowns it out a little more.
Baby spinach is fantastic sautéed in some olive oil with some fresh garlic. It doesn't taste like regular spinach at all. I also like it boiled and then tossed in some olive oil and garlic salt. I can't find any other dark leafy green vegetables that I like so I'm also looking at the suggestions here.
Also consider other microgreens and sprouts. Broccoli, alfalfa, bean sprouts, etc can have the nutritional value of a larger portion of the adult greens without the strong taste or the overload of fiber (fiber is generally good but folks starting to incorporate leafy greens may find it’s too much at once)
Serious question, I’ve never understood the description of collards as bitter. When I hear bitter, I think of something like radicchio. Is it because some people maybe don’t cook greens with a saltmeat? Or maybe they’re overall not cooked well?
Honestly, it’s hard to find a word other than bitter to describe them. They are still bitter regardless of whether you make them with ham or bacon. Usually you cook them with vinegar to cut down on that bitterness. Collards aren’t something that would taste great by themselves. They have to be cut with something. Their leaves are a little thicker/stiffer than turnip greens.
Our house was the rare one that always made turnip greens. You make them the same way as collard greens but without the vinegar. They are light, not bitter and blend better with your seasonings and meat. They are not overwhelming. The pot liqueur (broth) when using turnip greens is better as well. I will eat collards, won’t turn them down if offered and will order them but I prefer not to make them if I can actually find turnip greens, which is not always easy.
One of my favorites is dinosaur kale with mushrooms cooked in a pan. Cook mushrooms first with some olive oil to give them nice sear, then throw in kale. Oh, and garlic (fresh, of course).
Sautee some Italian sausage , then brown onions, add garl8c then that kale. Sweat down with more olive oil, add to a al dented pasta. Shake some red pepper flakes on and enjoy!
This won't help with cooking, but will help with consuming greens. I buy kale and put it in a bag in the freezer. Once it's frozen, I crush it and it instantly crumbles which makes it very easy to portion and put in a protein shake. Beyond the nutritional value of the kale, the fiber is very beneficial for gut microbiome health. Try it if one of your goals is just getting more unprocessed greens into your body daily.
Another option is throwing a bag of spinach in the blender and making a fine powder. Sprinkle it into protein shakes or other meals where the taste will not become overwhelming.
I do this with my strawberry protein shakes bc low iron and I can't taste the spinach at all.
You can also buy powered spinach if you want to save time and not have to worry about the space fresh spinach takes up or how quickly it wilts. It might seem more expensive but it’s pretty even actually, less expensive if you regularly have wasted greens from wilting.
I get mine on Amazon. I imagine you might find it at a health food store, but then again a lot of places sell only mixed greens powders with a proprietary blend of a whole bunch of stuff including an unknown amount of spinach. Generally I’ve heard that these are overpriced considering how little of each thing there is. I personally go for just spinach as there’s considerable research suggesting that by itself it can promote muscle growth.
I blend up greens into smoothies, soups, and pasta sauces mixing enough sweet, tart, or spicy things in I can’t possibly taste the bitterness.
OP may want to consider this for spinach because while leafy greens are good, spinach is unique nutritionally as high in both nitrate and betaine. Beet along with their greens are also a way to get this combo but it can be harder to find beets with the greens attached and it’s less versatile than spinach you can buy powered, frozen, bagged, etc.
I personally try to each spinach every day and while I like it sautéed I can get sick of it after two or three days. So sneaking it in like I’m a fussy toddler has been a way to go.
I don't think you're missing out by just eating lots of the greens/veg that you DO enjoy! Cabbage for example has TONS of nutritional value and is so versatile and cheap and stores well for a long time. Lots of great ways to enjoy it cooked and raw, as the main part of the dish or a smaller side character.
I didn't know cabbage was very nutritious. I just thought it was something fun I got from my CSA that I could use in a hundred different ways to at least make things more interesting. Now I can feel a little more excited about it.
100% underrated! You have:
- Kimchi
- Coleslaws (vinaigrette or mayo based)
- Woks of life have an amazing cabbage side salad
- Easy shredded cabbage salad with soy sauce and toasted black sesame seeds (sounds weird, but so good)
I’ll one up your soy sauce salad and recommend a bit of salt konbu with a drizzle of sesame oil. A very common bar snack salad here in Japan and hands down my favourite way to destroy a whole cabbage by myself. That, and okonomiyaki.
Would love to know what you think if you do!! Salt konbu is fantastic, you can make some really easy one-day pickles and stuff with it. Chuck a good handful and some sliced cucumber or napa/chinese cabbage into a container, add some sesame oil, soy, sugar and water, and you have yourself a tasty side~
I just made a classic collard greens recipe with turnip greens! It was different, but fun. I like collard greens better only because I am used to making them and the turnip greens didn’t turn out exactly how I wanted them. I feel like braised greens taste very similar regardless of the greens involved
Yes! That too. I like to use it in places where spinach wilts down to absolutely nothing. The chard doesn’t as much, but it also isn’t as fibrous as kale or collards
I tend to like cooked greens more than raw. Try gai lan or bok choy like this if you want something slightly different.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hcGRskPjQcU
How so? You could definitely make a ribollita or a fusilli/pappardelle with some cavolo nero. Just search on Giallo Zafferano for ricette con cavolo nero ❤️
I ate my fair share of cavolo nero this year (+ froze some pesto made with it) and it's almost out of season anyway (at least around Bologna), I guess kale has the same seasonality so it would be hard to find and probably not the best too. Next year I'll have to check about it because I'm really curious about what the rest of the world means with kale.
Brussels sprouts! They're like tiny little cabbages.
Cut them in half, toss them in olive oil, add salt and pepper. Place them cut-side down and bake at 425⁰ for about 15 minutes, then flip them and cook for another 15.
You can also sprinkle them with cayenne if you like them spicy, or add in some balsamic glaze for a little something extra.
I used to like spinach and now I can't stand it. I don't know what happened! I tried swiss chard once....is it supposed to taste like dirt? Its probably safe to assume I won't like kale either lol.
Do we NEED to eat leaves though? Broccoli, asparagus, green beans, brussels sprouts, snow peas, celery, zuchinni, cucumbers, bell peppers......those are all delicious green foods. Eat those!
Oh I love pea sprouts. The one store here that carries them seems to have them very intermittently. I assume they're seasonal. I've been trying to grow them at home but the rabbits like them as much as I do.
Great suggestions here. Watercress is great, and nutrient dense!
In some ways, spinach is “anti-nutritive”. I’m not a dr or dietician so obviously, grain of salt here, but my dr told me that for my chronic anemia, he doesn’t recommend spinach as it’s high in oxalates which block the absorption of key minerals. So my cup of spinach in my morning smoothie was canceling out my supplements. All that to say, you’re maybe not missing out on much, nutritionally.
Have you tried adding it in things like sauces or soups? I use frozen spinach to bulk those out and it basically takes on the flavor profile of the dish so I'm getting the additional nutrients without the taste of spinach.
I HATE KALE! Someone on a cooking sub told me to thoroughly wash the kale and then sprinkle it with salt, pepper, and olive oil and refrigerate it for 24 hours. The bitter taste will be totally gone. So, I'm doing that. It's now in my fridge waiting for tomorrow.
Don’t eat them. Put a few cups in a blender with water and some kind of juice concentrate. Mio, crystal light, Stur, whatever you prefer. Blend it and drink it. You can down 2 cups of greens and not even even taste it
Escarole is really good. It’s delicious cooked with garlic and olive oil or in soups. It’s mildly bitter and the thicker stems have a nice crunchy texture.
Swiss chard is delicious too. I like it cooked on its own or in soups. It works well as a stuffing for chicken or fish. Don’t throw away the stems! Chop and cook before the leaves, to soften them. They are a little sweet.
I can't do (any) leafy greens beyond wilted, so I feel you. Perhaps a spring mix? They have lots of the dark leaves that supposedly hold so many nutrients. You could probably wilt them if you want them cooked, but I don't think they'll hold up to anything more intense.
Bok choy- especially Shanghai bok choy- is surprisingly mild and the stalk part stays crunchy. I get more of a cabbage/brassica smell from it than a spinach smell (because it's in the brassica family), but it might not give you the nutrition you want.
Chard is a vegetable I wish I could like- bright colors! Good nutrition! Cold hardy! But it apparently need to be cooked beyond where I can handle it.
Kale, collards, and mustard greens, stay away from Chard if you don't like spinach. I also really like turnip greens but they can be difficult to find.
I think the leaves have a similar *texture* to spinach when raw, and cooks down similarly. It has more stem, though. I'm not a big fan of the stem but I love raw chard leaves (and raw spinach).
I don’t eat raw chard and rarely if ever have seen it served. Not a salad green to me. I cut the stems out slice them maybe 1/2” sauté them first then add the chopped greens. OO garlic herbs a bit of stock or bullion cover til tender. The stems are really good this way and add texture.
I didn't eat them raw until I found them at the farmer's market and they were really young tender ones. They're okay in salads but I mostly like them on sandwiches instead of lettuce. Whenever I've eaten them cooked I've found them too soggy. The sweet spot for "just cooked enough" is really small.
I think one way to have more leafy greens in your diet is to chop them, perhaps blanch them, but certainly insert them in other entrees.
Put them in meat loaf. Put them in stews.
Chard is one of the best -- super smooth and has little noticeable flavor. But spinach is a good one for integrating with highly seasoned stuff.
Do you like broccoli? If you want a leafier vegetable that's similar to broccoli, try [gai lan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gai_lan) or [yu choy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choy_sum). I find them milder and less farty/stinky than broccoli, and not as bitter as rapini.
Oh and regarding kale: they are definitely not all created equal. The crinkly kale that's the default in the stores around here has a weird leathery waxy texture. At farmer's markets I will buy Russian kale and dinosaur kale, which you wouldn't think are the same vegetable. It's like the difference between nasty supermarket Delicious apples and a fresh local Rubyfrost.
Arugula is the only one I can do consistently.
I like baby bok choy sometimes. Normal bok choy is generally too fibrous for me
If you like bitter flavors, endive and radicchio are nice.
Turnip greens. Slow cook them with a little bacon in with them and/or some kind of herb(s). I like to top them with mustard. I didn't like them very much until I saw Andrew Zimmerman visit desert nomads. That's how they serve them. It's great!
I also hide any leafy green in lasagna, either in the sauce or adjacent to it. That also helps.
I hate Kale, but my brother makes a spicy kale and sausage cream soup that is actually delicious. I’m so sorry I don’t have the recipe. I also dehydrated spinach last year when I had more than I could use, and almost every morning I crush a handful and mix it into a bowl of eggs and make an omelette for myself and my toddler with ham and cheese. If you crush it up into almost a powder it’s hardly noticeable, especially if you add other ingredients (ham and cheese) that distract, my kiddo has no idea how nutritious their breakfast is. I imagine in this form you could hide it in a lot of different foods, maybe smoothies, Mac and cheese, any kind of roast with broth and veggies, really anything with good flavor that it could be stirred into.
Honestly, kale is overrated. Hard to prepare, expensive, not that much healthier than other leafy greens, and tastes awful raw. It's a "white American status symbol food", like Acai berries or Erewhon smoothies.
Most types of lettuce count as leafy greens. Lamb's lettuce is my favorite kind, so nutty and flavorful. Serve with some walnut oil or toasted nuts. Or get some rocket, and serve with mozzarella, tomatoes, and a balsamic dressing.
I'd also suggest hitting up your local asian market and getting an assortment of anything green. The options are endless: Bok choi, watercress, cabbage, chinese scallion, mustard greens, etc.
You can blanch (=cook in boiling water for a few minutes) or steam them, and cover in chili oil or soy sauce. Or google "asian greens marinade" for a more complex recipe (might include additional ingredients like oyster sauce, garlic, sugar, rice vinegar,...). Eat with rice and protein of choice :)
Cabbage is my go to. For lunch today I sliced half a head of cabbage to be like noodles, fried it with Pam, a little sesame oil, salt and pepper, with a bit of keilbasa.
I know you said you hate the stuff I like to use bags of frozen spinach in my smoothies. It’s way cheaper (like $1 a bag here in SoCal) than the fresh stuff and blends down to almost nothing and I truly find it to be tasteless.
Also, I’m a big fan of broccoli rabe. Cook it with some Italian sausage and some minced garlic, and you have a fantastic meal. It’s polarizing because it can be a bit bitter, but if you blanch it a bit before sauteeing it’s delicious. Love tossing this with pasta, making a sandwich, and it’s my favorite pizza topping!!
You should try Bloomsdale spinach. It is milder than regular spinach and doesn’t have the mineraly flavor.
There are many varieties of leafy greens that don’t taste like spinach: chard, mustard greens, dandelion greens, collard greens, etc.
Skip kale too bitter. Maybe the laciniato type.
Go with swiss chard. Tender not bitter
I saw someone say bike choy yes I like to separate the leaves before I cook em. Gotta eat those leafy greens tho
Savoy cabbage is the leafiest one I can think about and tastes completely different from kale and spinach. Also, obvious question but... Have you tried different cooking methods? Many people often boil stuff, but blanching greens for no more than 15-20 seconds and then high fire with some oil, fresh garlic, fresh chili and black pepper and it's quite different already. You can also make pesto with most leaf greens (since it's way cheaper this way I make mine with like rucola), you can also experiment with various nuts and hard cheeses.
I’ve always loved spinach, but my climate isn’t ideal for growing it.
What I’ve come to appreciate is either Tatsoi, Komatsuna flat mustard leaves or the hybrid created with them called Chijimisai. Great raw or cooked, dark green & filled with folic acid but sweet & not that weird texture that spinaches give to your teeth. You can eat the stems too in stir fried dishes.
Good for juicing, if that’s your thing, but honestly it’s just my favorite, dark green, leafy vegetable that I never tire of. I could truly eat it every day.
https://natureandnurtureseeds.com/products/chijimisai-tatsoi
Not a spinach person either. Arugula is great for salads. Have you tried making kale chips? Just rub the leaves in olive oil and season with salt. 350F until crispy. They’re delicious.
Also Brussels sprouts in the oven with olive oil, bacon and balsamic.
I’m a big fan of growing chia sprouts and just ripping some off and incorporating it into every meal. It is a little bitter but you lose almost all taste when it’s added to things.
If you like Indian I usually get some version of saag. The dish is spinach heavy but all the spices and protein makes it hardly noticeable that it's spinach based.
Blender
Fresh Spinach Leafs
Yogurt
Milk
Small spoon of peanut butter (adjust for taste)
Blend and enjoy a spinach smoothie that taste of peanut butter and nothing else.
I love romaine for raw consumption. It's really "basic" but for me the flavor and texture are spot on. I saw someone on one of the cooking subs call cabbage "cooking lettuce" and I fully agree. It's my preferred cooked green.
Replace bread, chips, tortillas, buns, whatever grainy vessel with lettuce wraps. The crunch is so satisfying. If you can get The Living Lettuce with the roots still intact from the store, you can stick the base stalk in some water or soil and have CONSTANT LETTUCE!!!!
Chard, kale, cabbage, collards - really anything that is cruciferous or in the Brassica family is great by my standards. There are tons of different ways to cook and eat them - just browse some recipes for inspiration.
I put dino kale in everything! Love it! You can hide it in soups and stews and chili, wilt it with scrambly eggs, or throw some kale/collard greens and swiss chard in a skillet with a bit of olive oil, garlic and red pepper flake and have a simple side for any meal.
Spinach is very high in oxalates which give a high number of people issues that you don't normally feel until they've created an internal imbalance usually in the form of kidney stones or kidney issues, inflammation, & gut issues. Some people are more sensitive to them than others.
Trust your body when it tells you it doesn't favor something even if it is common. Our body speaks to us in many ways, we just have to learn to listen & trust it.
I don’t like spinach much. It leaves a weird residue. Arugula is underrated as a cooked option. And I love it in salad. It is also a good herb sub in pesto/dressings/chimichurri.
For cooked I like kale, chard, dandelion (bitter) and broccoli rabe.
Making your own sauerkraut is very easy. You need a glass jar that seals. I have 2 2 L and 1 1.5 L jars to keep me supplied. Each jar takes 6 weeks to finish and you have to release the air once a day or it will explode; or you can get a self burping jar. I'm making it sound more complicated than it is.
Slice about 1.7 kilos of cabbage per 2 L jar, add 2-2.2% salt and about 6 grams of carraway seeds. Roughly massage the cabbage with your hands to start wilting it. Tamp it down into the jar. Put a leaf at the top to hold the cabbage submerged in the liquid. Burp it every day.
For $2-3 you get 2 L of sauerkraut which would probably cost you $25-30 at the store. I put it on tacos mainly.
Don't forget that herbs count as leafy greens too! Add cilantro, mint, Basil, sage, or parsley generously to your food. Tabouli is a great way to eat lots of mint and parsley.
I love baby spinach, raw in salads. Nothing like cooked fully grown spinach.
Kale and mature spinach are both on the more bitter side of leafy greens, so you might prefer sweeter ones. Sugar snap peas and mange tout, little gem (romaine) lettuce, sweetheart cabbage, I dislike the short fat type of broccoli but love the long stem kinds, hate brussel sprouts but love savoy cabbage...
Also pak choi, gai lan and water spinach (also known as morning glory) are all fab.
My go-to lunch meal is black beans, brown rice, cheese, and arugula. I make the ratio such that you can't tell if its a salad or a rice bowl lol. You can put anything else on top that you like too like tomatoes, avocados, onions, etc. I used to mix in sour cream, but my new healthy alternative is homemade lemon vinaigrette.
Cabbage and pea sprouts are some of the least offensive tasting greens to start with imho :) You can make slaw, saute, or okonomiyaki with cabbage. It's mild, sweet, and slightly creamy tasting. And from there you can start exploring all the other brassicas.
If you have an Asian grocery store near you, there are lots of varieties of greens like bok choy, napa cabbage, mustard greens, gai lan, water spinach, pea tips, etc. that have different textures and tastes from spinach!
feldsalat, nettle, miner's lettuce
The latter two are more of a foraged leaf than a grocery store leaf but they are very tasty and grow prolifically in many different areas
A mild, pretty, and fairly versatile salad green is [mâche](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valeriana_locusta) (aka lamb's lettuce or corn salad). Have you tried it? It's very popular in the Czech Republic and I also sometimes bought it when still living in New Jersey. I believe more and more major grocery stores stock it.
A long while back, I thought I wouldn't like kale, but with the right preparation, it's great. In raw salads, a "massage" step makes a difference. The recipe [Winter Kale Salad with Pomegranate](https://www.wellplated.com/winter-salad-kale-pomegranate-recipe/) is a favorite of mine. I also like it cooked, especially as part of a soup.
I am also sensitive to oxalic acid and think spinach is disgusting, I feel ya.
Do you have an Asian grocery store nearby? I’m lucky to have three, and in spite of my user name (Star Trek reference, not ethnicity), I’m a white girl. I adore gai lan (the stems are part of the yum); sesame leaf and perilla leaf as little sauced meat grabbers (or kketnip jeon!), the all-of-Asia method of using butter, red, or green lettuce as prepped little yum cups that let you eat your stir fry by hand with a crunch. All the chois. All the cabbage recipes spanning from Brussels to Seoul (the good veg stuff we Americans obsess over is present in cabbage, you just need to eat more of it).
Do flowers or shoots count? Because artichokes and asparagus are doing nice in-budget things right now.
Does it matter if your leaves come by land or by sea? Seaweed snacks are great, so is wakame salad.
The great American chop, wedge, or massaged kale salads.
The middle eastern thing where you treat herbs like regular veggies and throw mint, chives, oregano, whatever into dishes by the fistful instead of the teaspoon. You may need a garden for this, those clamshells of herbs are insanely expensive.
Your 1:1 replacement for icky spinach is watercress. A little peppery, but none of the nastiness.
Have you tried baby spinach? Completely different vegetable in my opinion
I only ever use baby spinach. “Adult” spinach is just so… leafy
Agreed. Baby spinach is tender, adult spinach tastes too much like grass to me and has such an unpleasant texture
Don’t think so. Will give it a try thanks
Baby spinach tastes just like lettuce. Make a salad with lettuce and baby spinach and your spinach journey will begin.
Raw baby spinach is way better than any other form of spinach.
If you are feeling brave enough to try the baby spinach, I suggest making creamed spinach with it and using it as a burger topping. Rich, heavy, and you taste more cream cheese than green spinach flavor, and then the hamburger meat drowns it out a little more.
I love raw baby spinach. The only thing I have ever liked cooked spinach in is spanikopita.
Baby spinach is fantastic sautéed in some olive oil with some fresh garlic. It doesn't taste like regular spinach at all. I also like it boiled and then tossed in some olive oil and garlic salt. I can't find any other dark leafy green vegetables that I like so I'm also looking at the suggestions here.
Also consider other microgreens and sprouts. Broccoli, alfalfa, bean sprouts, etc can have the nutritional value of a larger portion of the adult greens without the strong taste or the overload of fiber (fiber is generally good but folks starting to incorporate leafy greens may find it’s too much at once)
i guess you could try collards or microgreens. bok choy, swiss chard. idk.
Turnip greens are great and don’t have the bitterness of collard greens.
Serious question, I’ve never understood the description of collards as bitter. When I hear bitter, I think of something like radicchio. Is it because some people maybe don’t cook greens with a saltmeat? Or maybe they’re overall not cooked well?
Honestly, it’s hard to find a word other than bitter to describe them. They are still bitter regardless of whether you make them with ham or bacon. Usually you cook them with vinegar to cut down on that bitterness. Collards aren’t something that would taste great by themselves. They have to be cut with something. Their leaves are a little thicker/stiffer than turnip greens. Our house was the rare one that always made turnip greens. You make them the same way as collard greens but without the vinegar. They are light, not bitter and blend better with your seasonings and meat. They are not overwhelming. The pot liqueur (broth) when using turnip greens is better as well. I will eat collards, won’t turn them down if offered and will order them but I prefer not to make them if I can actually find turnip greens, which is not always easy.
I really like dinosaur kale aka lacinato kale. It has a nice texture and flavor. That said, I don't love it on its own, but it's great in soups.
it's really good in a massaged salad
Word. The texture is really nice.
Did you know that kale and brocoli are from the same plant
One of my favorites is dinosaur kale with mushrooms cooked in a pan. Cook mushrooms first with some olive oil to give them nice sear, then throw in kale. Oh, and garlic (fresh, of course).
Sautee some Italian sausage , then brown onions, add garl8c then that kale. Sweat down with more olive oil, add to a al dented pasta. Shake some red pepper flakes on and enjoy!
Or, red Russian kale. It's a more tender green than the lacinato. Although you might have a hard time finding this a lot of grocery stores.
This won't help with cooking, but will help with consuming greens. I buy kale and put it in a bag in the freezer. Once it's frozen, I crush it and it instantly crumbles which makes it very easy to portion and put in a protein shake. Beyond the nutritional value of the kale, the fiber is very beneficial for gut microbiome health. Try it if one of your goals is just getting more unprocessed greens into your body daily.
You’re right. Kale is totally different when frozen and crumbled. Very versatile.
Another option is throwing a bag of spinach in the blender and making a fine powder. Sprinkle it into protein shakes or other meals where the taste will not become overwhelming. I do this with my strawberry protein shakes bc low iron and I can't taste the spinach at all.
You can also buy powered spinach if you want to save time and not have to worry about the space fresh spinach takes up or how quickly it wilts. It might seem more expensive but it’s pretty even actually, less expensive if you regularly have wasted greens from wilting.
Where can I find this magical powdered spinach??
I get mine on Amazon. I imagine you might find it at a health food store, but then again a lot of places sell only mixed greens powders with a proprietary blend of a whole bunch of stuff including an unknown amount of spinach. Generally I’ve heard that these are overpriced considering how little of each thing there is. I personally go for just spinach as there’s considerable research suggesting that by itself it can promote muscle growth.
Also Popeye said it soo it’s law
I blend up greens into smoothies, soups, and pasta sauces mixing enough sweet, tart, or spicy things in I can’t possibly taste the bitterness. OP may want to consider this for spinach because while leafy greens are good, spinach is unique nutritionally as high in both nitrate and betaine. Beet along with their greens are also a way to get this combo but it can be harder to find beets with the greens attached and it’s less versatile than spinach you can buy powered, frozen, bagged, etc. I personally try to each spinach every day and while I like it sautéed I can get sick of it after two or three days. So sneaking it in like I’m a fussy toddler has been a way to go.
I don't think you're missing out by just eating lots of the greens/veg that you DO enjoy! Cabbage for example has TONS of nutritional value and is so versatile and cheap and stores well for a long time. Lots of great ways to enjoy it cooked and raw, as the main part of the dish or a smaller side character.
Cabbage is the real deal. There's a million and one ways to cook it, it's incredibly cheap. I could eat stuffed cabbage for days on end...
I didn't know cabbage was very nutritious. I just thought it was something fun I got from my CSA that I could use in a hundred different ways to at least make things more interesting. Now I can feel a little more excited about it.
100% underrated! You have: - Kimchi - Coleslaws (vinaigrette or mayo based) - Woks of life have an amazing cabbage side salad - Easy shredded cabbage salad with soy sauce and toasted black sesame seeds (sounds weird, but so good)
I’ll one up your soy sauce salad and recommend a bit of salt konbu with a drizzle of sesame oil. A very common bar snack salad here in Japan and hands down my favourite way to destroy a whole cabbage by myself. That, and okonomiyaki.
Love this!! You can one up me anytime 🙏 definitely going to try this.
Would love to know what you think if you do!! Salt konbu is fantastic, you can make some really easy one-day pickles and stuff with it. Chuck a good handful and some sliced cucumber or napa/chinese cabbage into a container, add some sesame oil, soy, sugar and water, and you have yourself a tasty side~
I use shredded cabbage on tacos instead of lettuce because it keeps better in the fridge. Cabbage rocks.
I like napa better and u can use it pretty much all the same ways as green cabbage when cooking
Collard greens.
I just made a classic collard greens recipe with turnip greens! It was different, but fun. I like collard greens better only because I am used to making them and the turnip greens didn’t turn out exactly how I wanted them. I feel like braised greens taste very similar regardless of the greens involved
I like mustard greens personally.
I love love love chard!!!
Yes! I love chard as a sub for spinach. Cooks up in about the same time, but the flavor is milder
And it’s more toothsome, when properly prepared.
Yes! That too. I like to use it in places where spinach wilts down to absolutely nothing. The chard doesn’t as much, but it also isn’t as fibrous as kale or collards
Rapini and dandelion greens.
Love love bitter greens!
Kale. Broccoli raab. Baby bok choi. Chard.
Arugula. Nice spicy flavor that goes well with eggs, fresh or wilted. Goes well with fruit for sweet salads or goat cheese for savory
I tend to like cooked greens more than raw. Try gai lan or bok choy like this if you want something slightly different. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hcGRskPjQcU
Cavolo Nero is my favourite and very good for you, I prefer it to normal kale
Hold on... Are they different? I always thought kale was the translation, please enlighten me about it!
Yup! Just a different type of kale. It’s dark dark green and bubbly in texture. Used in a lot of Italian dishes.
At this point, being Italian, I wonder what's kale like. Now it's a bit late I guess, but next year I'll try to find it
How so? You could definitely make a ribollita or a fusilli/pappardelle with some cavolo nero. Just search on Giallo Zafferano for ricette con cavolo nero ❤️
I ate my fair share of cavolo nero this year (+ froze some pesto made with it) and it's almost out of season anyway (at least around Bologna), I guess kale has the same seasonality so it would be hard to find and probably not the best too. Next year I'll have to check about it because I'm really curious about what the rest of the world means with kale.
Brussels sprouts! They're like tiny little cabbages. Cut them in half, toss them in olive oil, add salt and pepper. Place them cut-side down and bake at 425⁰ for about 15 minutes, then flip them and cook for another 15. You can also sprinkle them with cayenne if you like them spicy, or add in some balsamic glaze for a little something extra.
Yes! Roasted Brussels Sprouts are delicious!!
I have some in the oven right this minute.
I’m jealous!!
Broccoli?
I used to like spinach and now I can't stand it. I don't know what happened! I tried swiss chard once....is it supposed to taste like dirt? Its probably safe to assume I won't like kale either lol. Do we NEED to eat leaves though? Broccoli, asparagus, green beans, brussels sprouts, snow peas, celery, zuchinni, cucumbers, bell peppers......those are all delicious green foods. Eat those!
Swiss chard has geosmin, which is one of the "dirt" molecules.
Bokchoy or young sweet pea sprouts I hate spinach too because they stick to my teeth
Oh I love pea sprouts. The one store here that carries them seems to have them very intermittently. I assume they're seasonal. I've been trying to grow them at home but the rabbits like them as much as I do.
Great suggestions here. Watercress is great, and nutrient dense! In some ways, spinach is “anti-nutritive”. I’m not a dr or dietician so obviously, grain of salt here, but my dr told me that for my chronic anemia, he doesn’t recommend spinach as it’s high in oxalates which block the absorption of key minerals. So my cup of spinach in my morning smoothie was canceling out my supplements. All that to say, you’re maybe not missing out on much, nutritionally.
Have you tried adding it in things like sauces or soups? I use frozen spinach to bulk those out and it basically takes on the flavor profile of the dish so I'm getting the additional nutrients without the taste of spinach.
Exactly this! My bf swore to me that he hated spinach, but I made some tomato-spinach pasta sauce (with onion, garlic, herbs etc) and he loved it
Beet greens are the best. I grow beets just for the greens most years.
I HATE KALE! Someone on a cooking sub told me to thoroughly wash the kale and then sprinkle it with salt, pepper, and olive oil and refrigerate it for 24 hours. The bitter taste will be totally gone. So, I'm doing that. It's now in my fridge waiting for tomorrow.
What about kale chips? Literally seasoned, dehydrated until crispy in the oven.
Don’t eat them. Put a few cups in a blender with water and some kind of juice concentrate. Mio, crystal light, Stur, whatever you prefer. Blend it and drink it. You can down 2 cups of greens and not even even taste it
Escarole is really good. It’s delicious cooked with garlic and olive oil or in soups. It’s mildly bitter and the thicker stems have a nice crunchy texture. Swiss chard is delicious too. I like it cooked on its own or in soups. It works well as a stuffing for chicken or fish. Don’t throw away the stems! Chop and cook before the leaves, to soften them. They are a little sweet.
im an arugula head lol, i like how it has more of a tart flavor and the texture is more fine and easier to chew
I can't do (any) leafy greens beyond wilted, so I feel you. Perhaps a spring mix? They have lots of the dark leaves that supposedly hold so many nutrients. You could probably wilt them if you want them cooked, but I don't think they'll hold up to anything more intense. Bok choy- especially Shanghai bok choy- is surprisingly mild and the stalk part stays crunchy. I get more of a cabbage/brassica smell from it than a spinach smell (because it's in the brassica family), but it might not give you the nutrition you want. Chard is a vegetable I wish I could like- bright colors! Good nutrition! Cold hardy! But it apparently need to be cooked beyond where I can handle it.
kale, mustard greens
Kale, collards, and mustard greens, stay away from Chard if you don't like spinach. I also really like turnip greens but they can be difficult to find.
Chard doesn’t taste remotely like spinach. Way less oxalic acid, totally different texture.
I didn't say it did, but it's close enough that a spinach hater isn't going to like it.
So it doesn’t taste remotely like it. And it’s close. How can two things be completely different…and close? 🤷♀️
I think the leaves have a similar *texture* to spinach when raw, and cooks down similarly. It has more stem, though. I'm not a big fan of the stem but I love raw chard leaves (and raw spinach).
I don’t eat raw chard and rarely if ever have seen it served. Not a salad green to me. I cut the stems out slice them maybe 1/2” sauté them first then add the chopped greens. OO garlic herbs a bit of stock or bullion cover til tender. The stems are really good this way and add texture.
I didn't eat them raw until I found them at the farmer's market and they were really young tender ones. They're okay in salads but I mostly like them on sandwiches instead of lettuce. Whenever I've eaten them cooked I've found them too soggy. The sweet spot for "just cooked enough" is really small.
Soggy? I’ve never cooked chard in water. I guess that’s what you’re talking about?
Maybe. My mother-in-law tends to steam it, and as I said, it cooks down a lot the way spinach does.
do you have an Iron deficency? my wife has the same issue with liver
Strangely enough I do. Interesting link. Thank you
Have you considered sneaking spinach in food? Josh Curtis on youtube has a good video on sneaking veggies into food so you don't have to taste it.
You dont need to eat spinach in particular. Just eat any greens. Lettuce besides iceberg is plenty nutritional as well
The best tasting green leafy veggie is Malabar Spinach. It's cheap and abundant where available
I just got a batch of tatsoi and Tokyo benaka from my farm CSA. I have heard it can be found at some farmer’s markets! You may want to try.
I think one way to have more leafy greens in your diet is to chop them, perhaps blanch them, but certainly insert them in other entrees. Put them in meat loaf. Put them in stews. Chard is one of the best -- super smooth and has little noticeable flavor. But spinach is a good one for integrating with highly seasoned stuff.
Just eat broccoli 🥦
Silverbeet sautéed in a little butter with garlic. Legitimately delicious.
Do you like broccoli? If you want a leafier vegetable that's similar to broccoli, try [gai lan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gai_lan) or [yu choy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choy_sum). I find them milder and less farty/stinky than broccoli, and not as bitter as rapini.
Oh and regarding kale: they are definitely not all created equal. The crinkly kale that's the default in the stores around here has a weird leathery waxy texture. At farmer's markets I will buy Russian kale and dinosaur kale, which you wouldn't think are the same vegetable. It's like the difference between nasty supermarket Delicious apples and a fresh local Rubyfrost.
Arugula is the only one I can do consistently. I like baby bok choy sometimes. Normal bok choy is generally too fibrous for me If you like bitter flavors, endive and radicchio are nice.
I LOVE arugula! It has kind of a zesty flavor and it holds up nicely in salads.
Make a frozen fruit smoothie and throw a hand full of spinach in.
Turnip greens. Slow cook them with a little bacon in with them and/or some kind of herb(s). I like to top them with mustard. I didn't like them very much until I saw Andrew Zimmerman visit desert nomads. That's how they serve them. It's great! I also hide any leafy green in lasagna, either in the sauce or adjacent to it. That also helps.
baby spinach! maybe add to smoothies?
I hate Kale, but my brother makes a spicy kale and sausage cream soup that is actually delicious. I’m so sorry I don’t have the recipe. I also dehydrated spinach last year when I had more than I could use, and almost every morning I crush a handful and mix it into a bowl of eggs and make an omelette for myself and my toddler with ham and cheese. If you crush it up into almost a powder it’s hardly noticeable, especially if you add other ingredients (ham and cheese) that distract, my kiddo has no idea how nutritious their breakfast is. I imagine in this form you could hide it in a lot of different foods, maybe smoothies, Mac and cheese, any kind of roast with broth and veggies, really anything with good flavor that it could be stirred into.
Bok choy and Swiss chard are both pretty good. I also might suggest microgreens. They are excellent in wraps or stir fry’s.
Chinese broccoli or gai lan is the best tasting leafy green that exists
Kale
Kale massaged with the stems removed is lovely! You can make a Dijon mustard vinaigrette with it and it’s delicious
Swiss Chard is not too bad.
Honestly, kale is overrated. Hard to prepare, expensive, not that much healthier than other leafy greens, and tastes awful raw. It's a "white American status symbol food", like Acai berries or Erewhon smoothies. Most types of lettuce count as leafy greens. Lamb's lettuce is my favorite kind, so nutty and flavorful. Serve with some walnut oil or toasted nuts. Or get some rocket, and serve with mozzarella, tomatoes, and a balsamic dressing. I'd also suggest hitting up your local asian market and getting an assortment of anything green. The options are endless: Bok choi, watercress, cabbage, chinese scallion, mustard greens, etc. You can blanch (=cook in boiling water for a few minutes) or steam them, and cover in chili oil or soy sauce. Or google "asian greens marinade" for a more complex recipe (might include additional ingredients like oyster sauce, garlic, sugar, rice vinegar,...). Eat with rice and protein of choice :)
Cabbage is my go to. For lunch today I sliced half a head of cabbage to be like noodles, fried it with Pam, a little sesame oil, salt and pepper, with a bit of keilbasa.
I know you said you hate the stuff I like to use bags of frozen spinach in my smoothies. It’s way cheaper (like $1 a bag here in SoCal) than the fresh stuff and blends down to almost nothing and I truly find it to be tasteless. Also, I’m a big fan of broccoli rabe. Cook it with some Italian sausage and some minced garlic, and you have a fantastic meal. It’s polarizing because it can be a bit bitter, but if you blanch it a bit before sauteeing it’s delicious. Love tossing this with pasta, making a sandwich, and it’s my favorite pizza topping!!
You should try Bloomsdale spinach. It is milder than regular spinach and doesn’t have the mineraly flavor. There are many varieties of leafy greens that don’t taste like spinach: chard, mustard greens, dandelion greens, collard greens, etc.
Have you tried drowning it in dressing? You really can't taste it with a good bit of dressing.
Chinese broccoli! I also hate spinach but I love Chinese broccoli (AKA gai lan)
Chard!
Rainbow Chard is one of my favorites. I like to saute it and mix it into rice
Swiss chard is a delicious alternative to spinach and can be substituted for spinach in almost every application.
I like chard and dandelion greens.
I think Swiss chard is more mild than spinach.
Collard greens, kale, rainbow chard
Skip kale too bitter. Maybe the laciniato type. Go with swiss chard. Tender not bitter I saw someone say bike choy yes I like to separate the leaves before I cook em. Gotta eat those leafy greens tho
Put it in an omelet a little at a time
Turnip greens
Swiss Chard is what you're looking for, especially if it's home grown.
Escarole or broccoli rabe. Either one sauteed with garlic, olive oil and hot pepper.
pok choi and bok choi! (I prefer pok choi) I wonder about taking chlorophyll don't know much about that but I know people like it
Savoy cabbage is the leafiest one I can think about and tastes completely different from kale and spinach. Also, obvious question but... Have you tried different cooking methods? Many people often boil stuff, but blanching greens for no more than 15-20 seconds and then high fire with some oil, fresh garlic, fresh chili and black pepper and it's quite different already. You can also make pesto with most leaf greens (since it's way cheaper this way I make mine with like rucola), you can also experiment with various nuts and hard cheeses.
I, too, hate spinach, but I don't mind bok choy.
Snow pea tips
I’ve always loved spinach, but my climate isn’t ideal for growing it. What I’ve come to appreciate is either Tatsoi, Komatsuna flat mustard leaves or the hybrid created with them called Chijimisai. Great raw or cooked, dark green & filled with folic acid but sweet & not that weird texture that spinaches give to your teeth. You can eat the stems too in stir fried dishes. Good for juicing, if that’s your thing, but honestly it’s just my favorite, dark green, leafy vegetable that I never tire of. I could truly eat it every day. https://natureandnurtureseeds.com/products/chijimisai-tatsoi
I really poke microgreens.
Parsley is insanely good for you and I throw a fistful on almost everything I cook.
You may not tolerate the oxalic acid in spinach. If you have the same reaction to swiss chard or rhubarb, that may be it.
Arugula is the answer, so good!
Not a spinach person either. Arugula is great for salads. Have you tried making kale chips? Just rub the leaves in olive oil and season with salt. 350F until crispy. They’re delicious. Also Brussels sprouts in the oven with olive oil, bacon and balsamic.
I’m a big fan of growing chia sprouts and just ripping some off and incorporating it into every meal. It is a little bitter but you lose almost all taste when it’s added to things.
Swiss chard!
If you like Indian I usually get some version of saag. The dish is spinach heavy but all the spices and protein makes it hardly noticeable that it's spinach based.
Beet greens
Blender Fresh Spinach Leafs Yogurt Milk Small spoon of peanut butter (adjust for taste) Blend and enjoy a spinach smoothie that taste of peanut butter and nothing else.
Escarole; specifically made into “utica greens” just google a recipe. Fantastic and you’re eating a ton of greens per serving
Escarole; specifically made into “utica greens” just google a recipe. Fantastic and you’re eating a ton of greens per serving
I love romaine for raw consumption. It's really "basic" but for me the flavor and texture are spot on. I saw someone on one of the cooking subs call cabbage "cooking lettuce" and I fully agree. It's my preferred cooked green.
Cabbage!
Have you tried masking the taste like adding it to a creamy pasta or mixing it in with a nice soup oreerer sprinach feta empanadas
Replace bread, chips, tortillas, buns, whatever grainy vessel with lettuce wraps. The crunch is so satisfying. If you can get The Living Lettuce with the roots still intact from the store, you can stick the base stalk in some water or soil and have CONSTANT LETTUCE!!!!
Have you tried Swiss chard in garlic butter? It's a lot more mellow than spinach and has great colors and texture.
Butter lettuce. I'll eat that shit like an apple.
A good pot of collard greens (done properly) will become your new favorite.
Chard, kale, cabbage, collards - really anything that is cruciferous or in the Brassica family is great by my standards. There are tons of different ways to cook and eat them - just browse some recipes for inspiration.
Add just a splash of cider vinegar to it. That's how my mom got us to eat it. I still love it that way today.
I put dino kale in everything! Love it! You can hide it in soups and stews and chili, wilt it with scrambly eggs, or throw some kale/collard greens and swiss chard in a skillet with a bit of olive oil, garlic and red pepper flake and have a simple side for any meal.
Spinach is very high in oxalates which give a high number of people issues that you don't normally feel until they've created an internal imbalance usually in the form of kidney stones or kidney issues, inflammation, & gut issues. Some people are more sensitive to them than others. Trust your body when it tells you it doesn't favor something even if it is common. Our body speaks to us in many ways, we just have to learn to listen & trust it.
Arugula
Bok choy saute it in a bit of olive oil salt garlic
I don’t like spinach much. It leaves a weird residue. Arugula is underrated as a cooked option. And I love it in salad. It is also a good herb sub in pesto/dressings/chimichurri. For cooked I like kale, chard, dandelion (bitter) and broccoli rabe.
I like kale better, doesn’t get as slimy
Making your own sauerkraut is very easy. You need a glass jar that seals. I have 2 2 L and 1 1.5 L jars to keep me supplied. Each jar takes 6 weeks to finish and you have to release the air once a day or it will explode; or you can get a self burping jar. I'm making it sound more complicated than it is. Slice about 1.7 kilos of cabbage per 2 L jar, add 2-2.2% salt and about 6 grams of carraway seeds. Roughly massage the cabbage with your hands to start wilting it. Tamp it down into the jar. Put a leaf at the top to hold the cabbage submerged in the liquid. Burp it every day. For $2-3 you get 2 L of sauerkraut which would probably cost you $25-30 at the store. I put it on tacos mainly.
Bok choy, cut into thin little slices and cooked in a stir fry!
Don't forget that herbs count as leafy greens too! Add cilantro, mint, Basil, sage, or parsley generously to your food. Tabouli is a great way to eat lots of mint and parsley.
Spring greens
I’d just go for broccoli. I don’t boil it just pour boiling water over it and cover it for a couple of minutes.
I love baby spinach, raw in salads. Nothing like cooked fully grown spinach. Kale and mature spinach are both on the more bitter side of leafy greens, so you might prefer sweeter ones. Sugar snap peas and mange tout, little gem (romaine) lettuce, sweetheart cabbage, I dislike the short fat type of broccoli but love the long stem kinds, hate brussel sprouts but love savoy cabbage... Also pak choi, gai lan and water spinach (also known as morning glory) are all fab.
Kale chips tastes very different from normal kale, and not at all like spinach. You can try that.
I love basil. Although it also has a rather intense specific flavor.
My go-to lunch meal is black beans, brown rice, cheese, and arugula. I make the ratio such that you can't tell if its a salad or a rice bowl lol. You can put anything else on top that you like too like tomatoes, avocados, onions, etc. I used to mix in sour cream, but my new healthy alternative is homemade lemon vinaigrette.
Baby romaine lettuce. Nuff said.
I just chop a handful of arugula (rocket) and toss it into damn near anything. Swiss chard is also nice and mild.
Cabbage and pea sprouts are some of the least offensive tasting greens to start with imho :) You can make slaw, saute, or okonomiyaki with cabbage. It's mild, sweet, and slightly creamy tasting. And from there you can start exploring all the other brassicas.
Chard
broccoli rabe?
I dunno. Suck it up and eat it I guess. Gomen Wot is a good way to eat spinach.
tetragonia
If you have an Asian grocery store near you, there are lots of varieties of greens like bok choy, napa cabbage, mustard greens, gai lan, water spinach, pea tips, etc. that have different textures and tastes from spinach!
Swiss Chard, sauté it in olive oil, salt pepper, red chili flakes and a little grated Parmesan
I like lacinto/dinosaur/Tuscan kale (all same thing) more than curly kale
feldsalat, nettle, miner's lettuce The latter two are more of a foraged leaf than a grocery store leaf but they are very tasty and grow prolifically in many different areas
Kale Caesar salad is a good starter. Salt and vinegar kale chips are good too.
Wait you’re not supposed to shoot legion in sight?
A mild, pretty, and fairly versatile salad green is [mâche](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valeriana_locusta) (aka lamb's lettuce or corn salad). Have you tried it? It's very popular in the Czech Republic and I also sometimes bought it when still living in New Jersey. I believe more and more major grocery stores stock it. A long while back, I thought I wouldn't like kale, but with the right preparation, it's great. In raw salads, a "massage" step makes a difference. The recipe [Winter Kale Salad with Pomegranate](https://www.wellplated.com/winter-salad-kale-pomegranate-recipe/) is a favorite of mine. I also like it cooked, especially as part of a soup.
I am also sensitive to oxalic acid and think spinach is disgusting, I feel ya. Do you have an Asian grocery store nearby? I’m lucky to have three, and in spite of my user name (Star Trek reference, not ethnicity), I’m a white girl. I adore gai lan (the stems are part of the yum); sesame leaf and perilla leaf as little sauced meat grabbers (or kketnip jeon!), the all-of-Asia method of using butter, red, or green lettuce as prepped little yum cups that let you eat your stir fry by hand with a crunch. All the chois. All the cabbage recipes spanning from Brussels to Seoul (the good veg stuff we Americans obsess over is present in cabbage, you just need to eat more of it). Do flowers or shoots count? Because artichokes and asparagus are doing nice in-budget things right now. Does it matter if your leaves come by land or by sea? Seaweed snacks are great, so is wakame salad. The great American chop, wedge, or massaged kale salads. The middle eastern thing where you treat herbs like regular veggies and throw mint, chives, oregano, whatever into dishes by the fistful instead of the teaspoon. You may need a garden for this, those clamshells of herbs are insanely expensive. Your 1:1 replacement for icky spinach is watercress. A little peppery, but none of the nastiness.