So what happened to those glorious greens that followed me home Thursday afternoon?

As happens here faaaaar too often, especially with greens with short shelf-lives, my intentions' eyes were bigger than my reality's stomach.

By Saturday morning, the kitchen reeked of barnyard. There was no waiting for the beet/green risotto planned for supper. These greens needed attention immediately or would turn to inedible mush.

And I'm SO glad! This starter recipe:

• for today, yielded a very good cold salad of healthful greens and
  
• for the future, taught me an easy way to cook greens ahead of time, so they don't have to be used right then though within a day or so
  

The next time I bring home a mess of greens -- and I will more often, now, thanks to this -- I'll put on a big pot of water right away.

June 2006: This post has been revised to omit 2005's good but unrepeatable cold green salad and add 2006's terrific Greek Greens & Fish Pasta Salad. How terrific? A nine-year old came back for seconds!

June 2007: This is such a terrific way to cook greens, then use them a day or so later. And since it's my standard way of dealing with greens attached to beets, etc. Today the beet greens tasted so good after flash cooking that I stood at the sink as they drained, eating one leaf after another. But the radish greens were awful, fibrous and stringy. So I'm going to track the greens with which I've had success -- and failures. (And maybe this little project will mean I throw away fewer greens, a very good thing. Some times good intentions remain just that ...)

GREENS THAT FLASH COOK WELL: Beet greens

GREENS THAT DON'T FLASH COOK WELL: Radish greens

GREEK GREENS
Hands-on time: 15 minutes
Time to table: 25 minutes
Serves 4

Water to boil
Table salt
Big bunch of greens, including the stems if smaller than 1/4 inch in diameter

Bring a pot of water to boil. Add generous amount of salt.

Wash the greens well under running water. (Reputable food professionals such as Alton Brown recommend soaking greens in cold standing water for several minutes to soften and loosen the dirt, then rinsing under running water. I do when greens are very dirty. Mostly, however, I only wash them carefully, running my fingers across the surface, discarding leaves that seem tough or are otherwise in tough shape. The inspiring recipe says to discard leaves on stems more than 1/4 inch thick; I think this means that only the most tender leaves will work for a cold chopped salad. As the leaves are washed, stack them so that the junctions of the stems and leaves are lined up.)

In one big bunch, cut the leaves from the stems. Chop the stems in 1/2 inch lengths. (The inspiring recipe says to discard the stems. But don't -- they're sooo good! Plus, beet stems have such glorious ruby color.) Roughly chop the leaves in about two inch pieces.

Place the stems in the boiling water and simmer for a minute or two. Add the leaves and let them cook until tender, several minutes. Transfer to a collander (use a slotted spoon if you need to save the water for another batch). Let cool and drain, then refrigerate for up to one day.

GREEK GREENS & FISH PASTA SALAD
Hands-on time: 15 minutes (if greens are already cooked)
Time to table: 15 minutes
Serves 4

Splash olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger
1/2 pound (or more) tilapia or other mild-flavored fish, cut in one-inch pieces

2 cups cooked pasta
Chilled Greek Greens, stems and leaves

1/4 cup low-fat mayonnaise
2 tablespoons good mustard
1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
Salt & pepper

Heat the olive oil in a skillet. Add the ginger and the fish and let cook for 5 - 6 minutes, until fish is done. Meanwhile, collect the pasta and Greek Greens in a bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and the cooked fish. Gently combine. Serve immediately.

SOURCE
Greek Greens adapted from How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman