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One of the best ways to taste the seasons is right in the produce aisle. Leafy greens, like spinach, lettuce, and watercress, may be available all year long, but they’re at their best as the weather starts to warm up. These greens are also a good way to add some extra nutrition to your meals. As a rule, greens are not only very low in calories, but also a good source of vitamins K, C, and A and provide of calcium and fiber.
Before you go shopping, here’s a hack to help your greens last longer once you’ve washed them: Store in a plastic container and place a paper towel on top. Turn the container upside-down, so the paper towel is at the bottom. It’ll help absorb any extra moisture and keep your greens fresh for longer.
Spinach and Baby Spinach
Spinach has become one of the most popular greens, and for good reason. This vitamin-rich and readily available vegetable is so easy to mix into pastas, smoothies, scrambled eggs, and so much more. While spinach is typically available year-round at major supermarkets, it’s at its best in the springtime. Baby spinach is another produce-aisle favorite because of its versatility and tenderness, but the only real difference is just that it’s harvested earlier. This hearty pasta recipe highlights spinach two ways—fresh and frozen.
Kale and Baby Kale
This produce superstar, closely related to Brussels sprouts and broccoli, burst onto the scene a few years ago and has since become a staple in many kitchens. There are several types of kale, from curly kale to more refined Tuscan kale to tender, mild baby kale. Curly kale is the most popular type, with hearty, ruffled leaves, and a deep green color. Tuscan kale has long and dimpled leaves that are less bitter and more delicate than curly kale. If you’re just starting out with kale, opt for baby kale. Its leaves are harvested early making them more tender and lighter in flavor than other varieties. Kale can be sautéed, steamed, and even baked into delicate, crispy chips. Here we’ve used it as the base for a pesto in a hearty bean and grain salad.
Romaine
Romaine is a favorite for its refreshing crunch. Romaine is available as whole heads, with the deep green outer leaves attached, or hearts. Romaine hearts are smaller, sweeter, and paler in color than the outer leaves. Try keeping a bag of chopped romaine or whole romaine on hand for easy and quick salads. Looking for something different? Try cutting romaine hearts into wedges and throwing it on the grill to add a little charred flavor to your salad like in this recipe for wedge salad with eggs and herbs.
Watercress
Next up for our leafy greens is watercress. These small but punchy leaves are a member of the mustard family. For millennia, watercress has been prized for its healing properties, from the Roman belief that it could cure mental illness to Native American claims that it was an aphrodisiac. While we can’t swear to any of those traditions, we can attest to its deliciousness. The entire plant is edible — stems and all. It does lose some of its horseradish-like spiciness when cooked. To keep it fresh, place it in a glass of water and loosely cover the leaves with a plastic bag. Try watercress in this easy, refreshing main course salad featuring watercress, chicken, and oranges.
Arugula
Arugula is known for its peppery, spicy flavor. It’s well-loved in Italy and is often used as a base for salads, to garnish pizzas, and to add a bite to pasta. It can also be mixed into other lettuce blends, and like watercress, is also a member of the mustard green family. While it can be found year-round at major grocery stores, it’s at its peak in early spring and fall. We love it tossed in pasta, like in this recipe. The heat from the pasta just wilts the arugula, mellowing out some of its spiciness but keeping its distinctive flavor.
Swiss Chard
Swiss chard, also just called chard, has a long pale green stem with dark green leaves. You might also see red chard, which has red stems, and rainbow, which has multicolored stems. Chard is easy to prep, mild in flavor, and the stems as well as the leaves are edible—what’s not to love? It can be bitter when eaten raw but mellows out when it’s cooked. To cook it, simply cut the leaves from the stems and chop each separately. Sauté the stems first to get them tender, then stir in the greens until they just wilt. Chard has its own distinct flavor, a little like spinach, which means you can usually swap one for the other in recipes. Here we’ve given Swiss chard the creamed spinach treatment. With cream cheese and a touch of nutmeg, this side dish recipe is good enough to be the star of the meal.
