Boiled or Steamed Greens

Makes: 4 servings

Time: 10 to 30 minutes

F M V

This is the basic method for cooking greens (or just about any vegetable in the variations). Both work just fine; boiling gives you a little more control, but steaming is faster.

If the leaves and stems are pliable and can be eaten raw — as with spinach, arugula, or watercress — it’s a tender green and can be cooked as is. If the stems are as crisp as celery and the leaves a little tough or rubbery — as in bok choy, chard, kale, or collards — it’s best to separate the leaves from the stems (see the illustration on page 211) and give the stems a head start.

Other vegetables you can use: any green except sorrel (it will dissolve)

  1. Rig a steamer (see page 25) or bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it. If the greens have very thick stems (more than ⅛ inch or so), separate them from the leaves.
  2. Add the stems or the stems and leaves to the steamer or pot and cook until bright green and tender, from 3 minutes (for spinach) to 10 (for kale and collards). If you held back the leaves, add them when the stems are just about tender.
  3. Drain, then serve, drizzled or topped with whatever you like. Or shock in ice water, drain again, and proceed.

Boiled or Steamed Tender Vegetables This will work for broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, asparagus, peas of any type, even eggplant (be careful not to overcook): Cook until the vegetable is just tender, which will vary from about 3 (peas) to 7 (broccoli florets) to 10 or 12 (broccoli stems, some green beans) and up to 25 minutes (for a large whole head of cauliflower). Proceed from Step 3.

Boiled or Steamed Root Vegetables or Tubers 
It’s best to follow individual recipes given in this chapter, especially for potatoes and sweet potatoes. But as a general rule, this will work for beets, turnips, radishes, winter squash, and so on: Peel the vegetable or not as you prefer; leave whole if possible to prevent waterlogging. Cook until the vegetable is quite tender and can be pierced easily with a thin-bladed knife, from 10 minutes (radishes, for example) to nearly an hour (large potatoes). Proceed from Step 3.