Green Leaves

As our purple sprouting broccoli PSB was nonexistent this year, I tried steaming the flower buds that appeared on the Brussels sprouts in the leaf axels at the top of the plants. Steamed for a few minutes and tossed in butter they are almost as tasty as PSB. They also are a reasonable replacement for Chinese greens in a stir-fry. The leaves at the top of the sprout plants make a good substitute for cabbage or kale in this hungry gap.

For other greens at this time of year I like Swiss chard, but ours is in the poly tunnel and is beginning to bolt, still it has lots of leaves still to be eaten and the leaf stalks take well to the stir-fry treatment too.

Wild garlic or ramsons are delicious too, the local roadside is about to become a mass of white flowers. I don’t pick them from the roadside as we have some growing in the woods. A handful sliced and added to an omelette and a salad makes a perfect lunch.