A Way With Greens & Noodles (2 ways, actually)

The first time I got mizuna in my weekly delivery, I made something with soba noodles and mushrooms and a miso-tahini dressing, and it was just not right. Too thick, too rich, too one-texture (that texture being “mushy”). I ate it, but mostly because I don’t like to waste things. I know was working from a legitimate recipe, not my own imagination (I didn’t yet have the confidence to wing it with an unfamiliar ingredient), but I can’t find it now to see if maybe I just did something wrong.

But moving on: this year, I decided that I’d been a little premature in abandoning the asian greens + soba noodles combination, and perhaps it was the dressing that was the problem. And sure enough, I’ve found a couple of variations that I can recommend. Hooray! It only took me 4 years to learn how to cook this stuff!

First, put a pot of water on to boil. Make it a big pot, even if you’re only cooking a smallish amount of noodles. Soba likes to have room, and then when it’s cooked, it likes to be run under cold water.

While the water is coming to a boil, take some mustard greens:

or, you know, mizuna, if that’s what’s handy.

Either way, chop it up and give it a quick saute in a hot pan with the oil of your choice.

Add a little water, and either tamarind concentrate & smoked paprika*:

or some miso paste.

Cover up the greens and let them braise for a few minutes, just until they’re tender. Then toss them with the rinsed noodles.

If you’re looking for something a little more filling, cut up a block of tofu into chunks and cook them in the rest of the braising liquid, a couple of minutes on each side. (I did this with the tamarind version but not the miso one.)

Add to the noodles & greens and enjoy.

*The smokey tamarind variation is the second recipe that I’ve concocted based on a vague description in a New Yorker review of a restaurant I’ll never visit.

 

Soba Noodles with Mustard Greens/Mizuna

serves 2-4

 

1 package soba noodles (usually 8-10 oz, depending on the brand)

1 large bunch mustard greens or mizuna

1 Tbsp peanut or vegetable oil

1/4 cup water

Flavoring suggestions:

1 Tbsp tamarind concentrate + 1/4 tsp smoked paprika + 1/2 tsp salt

1 Tbsp miso paste

1 package tofu, drained and cut into pieces (usually 16 oz) (optional)

 

Bring a large pot of water to boil. Cook the noodles according to the instructions on the package. Drain and rinse well under cold water.

Chop the greens roughly, into 1-2″ pieces. Heat the oil in a large skillet and saute the greens for a few minutes, until they are wilted. Add the water and the flavorings of your choice. Stir, cover, and cook for 2-4 minutes, until the greens are tender. 

Remove the greens from the pan and toss with the noodles. 

If you’re using tofu, add the pieces to the skillet with the rest of the braising liquid. Cook for a few minutes on each side and then add to the noodles along with any remaining liquid that hasn’t cooked off.

Work in Progress

One of my favorite recipes from one of my favorite cookbooks is a lentil salad courtesy of The Metropolitan Bakery Cookbook, which was a gift from my dear friend M. many years ago. It’s not very complicated, but the flavors just come together perfectly–lentils cooked with turmeric, a bay leaf, & a cinnamon stick, tossed with a thyme-and-dijon vinaigrette and some diced & sauteed carrots and onions. 

This is how my brain works: 

As I was thinking of what to do with the mizuna & mustard greens I received this week, I remembered a bag of lentils I’d just bought, and wondered how those flavors would go together. And, hey, dijon mustard and mustard greens aren’t too far off from each other, are they? What if I adapt that salad somehow?

So I chopped up the mizuna & mustard greens together and put them in a pot with a little water & salt. Meanwhile the lentils are simmering like the original recipe, with a bay leaf, a cinnamon stick, and about a quarter teaspoon of turmeric.

 

Mustard greens, you should remember, cook down a lot, even if you just simmer them for a few minutes. This was two pretty generous bunches, which I drained, and tossed with some chopped garlic scapes, fresh thyme, coconut vinegar and coconut oil. (The coconut addition was inspired by the sweet potato/mustard green stew I made & loved so much.)

 

Then I tossed everything together, adjusted the salt & vinegar levels a little, and called it dinner. To my palate, the astringency of mustard greens needs something that can sort of flatten them out, bring them down to earth. Coconut milk does this very well, and so would eggs, I think. Lentils aren’t a bad choice, either. 

 

I’m not posting an actual recipe of this, because I’m not sure about it yet. The flavor combination is pretty good, but I think it’s too heavy, in a way, to be a main dish. A big bowl of it is just too rich, but maybe if it were served over rice? Or tossed with bulgur? Or use a softer lentil (one that breaks down more easily, like red or probably green) and shove it into a pita? I don’t know. But I’m getting mizuna & mustard greens again this week, so maybe I’ll try another variation and see how it goes. And if anyone’s got a suggestion, please comment.

Memory Lapse

I am known in some circles for having a poor memory. I lose things, I forget things, I . . . there’s a third thing I do. 

I lose travel coffee mugs constantly. Once I went hunting for my phone and found it on a shelf in the linen closet. At least twice, I have paid for a pound of coffee beans and then walked away without my purchase. I’d like to say that I don’t lose important things, but my mom will set the record straight on that (*cough*a certain ring of hers*cough*). I can only remember the plots of the last 10 books I’ve read, give or take. I stopped being able to learn song lyrics sometime in college. And for some reason I can’t get it through my head that I don’t like mustard greens.

Strolling through the greenmarket the other morning, Bodhi Tree Farm had the most beautiful greens sitting out. It was a grey morning, cool and damp, and these greens were all . . . well, green! But so many shades, some with red veins, some with purplish tints, some almost blue they were so dark. So I found myself buying a bunch of mustard greens. I don’t even know what variety. They were just pretty.

And then I started looking up recipes. And I remembered, oh, right, I don’t really like mustard greens. I’ve eaten them every time they show up in my CSA (so, at least 3 times…) and they always seem too astringent. I had sort of given up on finding my go-to recipe for when the season comes around again each year. But luckily, I happened to have some sweet potatoes lying around, and when I googled those two ingredients together, I discovered this recipe for Coconut-Flavored Sweet Potato with Mustard Greens. And the happy ending of the story is that I think I have found what to do with mustard greens from now on.

Start with sliced onions, in vegetable oil. 

Cook until they’re starting to go translucent (probably over lower heat than recommended by the recipe, though I don’t think a little browning is a bad thing here), and then add some mustard seeds and minced garlic.

After another minute or two, add a can of coconut milk, coriander, cayenne, a cinnamon stick, and some cubed sweet potato. I used a Japanese variety, hence the white flesh, because I am a sucker for weird heirloom varieties of anything. I think I should investigate the difference in nutritional value between that and the regular orange kind, though. Usually vegetables that are more colorful are better for you, and that is also something for which I’m a sucker…

Cover the pot and let it cook while you wash & chop up your greens. 

(Can you blame me for being seduced by these? They are just so lovely and spring-like, I couldn’t resist.)

So cut out the stalks, chop them up into bite-sized pieces, and add them to the pot.

Keep cooking another 15 minutes, until the sweet potato is soft and the greens are tender.

Serve with rice and a squeeze of lemon or lime. For reasons that I cannot fathom, I had neither a lemon NOR a lime in the fridge when I made this, so I drizzled in a few drops of white wine vinegar, which was delicious but surely a very different flavor than the recipe’s author wanted. But I have no doubt that I will have a chance to try it again as originally intended.

Although the color in these photos is not the best, the rice in the above photo is actually reddish, something branded as Madagascar Pink Rice. See above re: sucker for heirloom varieties.