5 green veggies to put on the menu more often

In a winter packed with shades of white and grey, put a little green on the menu with lesser-known vegetables that benefit from being added to our plates more often. Rapini, bok choy and Swiss chard are just a handful of verdant options from the vegetable section of the grocery store.

Rapini

This green veggie is a bit like broccoli, but more bitter. It has long stems and large, serrated leaves that end in flower buds. Blanch the rapini and cook it in several ways:

• Sauté it in a little oil with garlic and serve it as a side dish.
• Puree it in a food processor to turn it into pesto.
• Add it to a salad, making sure it’s still crunchy.
• Prepare a filling with ricotta cheese to stuff pasta.

Bok Choy

This Chinese cabbage is very popular in Asian cuisines. It has that delicate taste of cabbage with a hint of mustard, making it very versatile.

• Remove the leaves and blanch them to use in a salad alongside pork tenderloin.
• Cut it in half and drop it into a Tonkinese soup so that the broth warms it, but the bok choy still keeps its crunch.
• Blanch it and serve it as an accompaniment to Asian-style dishes.
• Sauté it in a little oil with other veggies and the protein of your choice for a simple and colourful meal.

Kale

Kale has a pronounced taste with a slight bitterness. The shape and colour of its leaves change depending on the variety. Always remove the stem from the kale leaves, as it is very tough. You can also massage the leaves to tenderize them.

• Serve the raw, thinly sliced leaves as lettuce for a Caesar salad.
• Fry it in a frying pan with a little oil until al dente and add it to your grilled cheese
• Add it to your soups 10 minutes before the end of the cooking time
• Tear the leaves and place them on a baking sheet, then coat them with oil and salt. Bake at 275°F (135°C) for 25 minutes to make chips with various seasonings.

Brussels Sprouts

These little cabbages that are harvested in the fall have often gone unloved. To appreciate them for their true value, it’s better to roast them for a more interesting texture.

• Drizzle them with a maple vinaigrette and place them on a baking sheet. Bake at 425°F (220°C) for 20 minutes, until golden brown.
• Remove the leaves from the cabbages and use the raw leaves in a salad.
• Finely chop the Brussels sprouts and mix them with couscous to make a tabbouleh.
• Make a filling for pasta with the freshly blanched leaves.

Swiss Chard

With its generous foliage that tastes like spinach and its large central stem with a celery flavour, Swiss chard offers great recipe options. Separate the stems and leaves, as they don’t have the same cooking time.

• Add the leaves to a stir-fry or chop suey and cover for a few minutes until tender, but still crunchy.
• Reinvent hummus by pureeing cooked Swiss chard stems, garlic and tahini.
• Sauté the chopped Swiss chard stems with garlic and onion in butter for 3 minutes. Add the leaves and cover for 5 minutes until tender to create a bed of greens for meat or fish.