Harvest Ticket, Page One

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Collards are here this week. Mild flavored and nutrient dense, these leafy greens are often overlooked but are worth a try! Be careful not to overcook--like other cruciferous veggies--overcooked collards have an unpleasant odor. A cancer preventing cruciferous vegetable--recent studies indicate that steamed collard greens have the greatest cholesteral-lowering ability of all leafy greens. Read more about collards at this link: http://www.whfoods.org/genpage.php?dbid=138&tname=foodspice





Mizuna is new in our boxes this week, too. Milder flavored than typical arugula; this popular Japanese leafy green will add some zip to an otherwise mundane salad. The sawtoothed spicy leaves can be added to soups, added as a raw chopped garnish on a cooked dish, or steamed like spinach with perhaps some drizzled Califiornia olive oil and a dash of well aged parmesan cheese.

Finally, Ghandi's reportedly favorite food: purslane is here for a few weeks before the cold kills it back. The herb is showing up in chef's recipes more frequently as the media lauds its healthy attributes. Loaded with Omega-3 fatty acids, vegetarians can turn to this herb instead of fish for this important nutrient. But don't let it's health benefits fool you...this imminently edible herb is tasty and mild enough even for kids to enjoy.

I tried purslane in this recipe; one of the cool qualities of the herb is that its leaves are succulent and stay pert even in salad dressings.

Bay Shrimp and Purslane Salad

2 cups fresh bay shrimp, carefully rinsed and chilled

2 cloves crushed garlic

whole Purslane leaves with chopped stems

Dash of lime juice and California olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Mix and serve.