By Martha Fenn King
The following “super” vegetables are growing in my garden right now: chard, spinach and kale. But I would like to focus on two other veggies that may not get as much attention: collards and parsley.
You can obtain your vitamin A and K, some calcium and folate from collards, a Brassica family member. Healthy for your immune system and for strengthening bones, these southern delights are hefty, leafy and green. Due to a thicker leaf they will need more steaming or simmering, but are delectable with some Celtic salt and bacon fat.
My husband Steve lived in New Orleans and likes to cook collard greens the southern way — boil the heck out of them with pork fat back or ham hock and sometimes onions. I do mean simmer or boil for several hours.
But I prefer steaming collard greens for about five minutes. Take a nibble to see if the leaf is tender enough for your liking. If not, steam it some more to tenderize the leaves. Then toss with extra virgin olive oil, a few pinches of sea salt and crushed garlic.
Next in the garden is parsley, a Mediterranean herb from the Greek word petroselinum, meaning rock celery. Petroselinum crispum is the Latin name for both the curly and flat leaf Italian parsley. Both are beautiful with a slightly different green hue. Parsley often gets thrown on a plate as a garnish in restaurants, but I like to make it more center stage on my plate.
Parsley can be a major part of your salads, added to tabouli/tabbouleh, the Middle Eastern dish, scrambled eggs and soup — you name it! It adds color, some fiber to aid digestion, vitamins C and K, potassium and also lutein and zeaxanthin. I pick a stem or two and nibble away right out of the garden.
Eating parsley may keep your immune system strong, your eyes free from developing macular degeneration and may help strengthen your bones. Sounds like a winner to me!
The flavor of parsley mellows with cooking but the raw leaves are quite flavorful — many people think the Italian flat leaf is superior to the curled variety, but I like both of them. Sometimes there is a slight bitter flavor or earthiness which I like more and more these days. Parsley that has wintered over has a sweetness that is surprising.
Everyday can be soup day and adding a big handful of parsley to your chicken or squash soup may brighten your outlook on life, quite literally.
This is an excerpt from “A Maine Garden Almanac: Seasonal Wisdom for Making the Most of Your Garden Space,” by Martha Fenn King, which was published by Down East Books in June 2023. Copies of the book are available where books are sold. This has been lightly edited for clarity.