Arugula

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About Arugula

Cooking & Storage

Recipes

ABOUT Arugula

Arugula is a green leafy vegetable that grows in cool temperatures, and is in the same family as other brassicas like collards, cabbage, kale and radish. It has origins in Southern Europe, particularly Italy and Greece where it’s been cultivated for at least 2,000 centuries. These tender leaves are known for their peppery, mustard-like flavor at their most mature, however they can be picked when younger for a more subtle, sweet taste. 

COOKING & STORAGE

• Edible parts: Leaves and flowers

• Medicine and Nutrients: These punchy little leaves also pack lots of nutrients like vitamins A, C, & K, as well as minerals like calcium, iron, and potassium.

• Storing and Shelf Stability: Don’t wash arugula until you are ready to use it, make sure you are storing the leaves when dry after washing. Arugula will last in the refrigerator for about one week, loosely wrapped between some paper towels and kept in a plastic bag or container.

Ways to Prepare 

• RAW: Arugula is most commonly eaten raw in salads tossed with a dressing or vinaigrette, on sandwiches, in smoothies to add a kick, or just by itself. If you’re lucky enough to catch an arugula plant flowering you can harvest the bright yellow flowers and eat those too.

• COOKED: Arugula can also be quickly cooked as a sauteed or stir-fried green like spinach, or added towards the end of a soup or stew’s cooking time.

RECIPES 

• Arugula Pesto & Farro Pilaf (Sweet Potato Soul)

• Simple Arugula Salad (Two Peas & Their Pod)

• Arugula Tomato Cheese Pizza (Half Baked Harvest)

• 10 Arugula Recipes (A Couple Cooks)

• Chickpea, Carrot, and Arugula Salad (Sula and Spice)

Authored and compiled by Maya Marie of Deep Routes, Ayllen Kocher, and Amara Ullauri

Tatsoi

Photo Source: Morning Chores

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About Tatsoi

Cooking & Storage

Recipes

ABOUT tatsoi

Tatsoi is a tender green that has rounded leaves. It has a smooth texture and a sweet, earthy flavor. These yummy greens have origins in China, particularly along the Yangtze River in East China, where it’s been cultivated for over 2,000 years. To this day it is especially popular in Chinese and Japanese cuisines for adding to stir-fries and soups.

COOKING & STORAGE

• Edible parts: Leaves and flowers

• Medicine and Nutrients: Tatsoi is very rich in vitamins C, K, and A. They also provide a significant source of fiber.

• Storage: Store tatsoi in the refrigerator, in the crisper drawer with other vegetables. Put it in a plastic bag and wait to wash until eating or cooking. Tatsoi has a short shelf-life and will only last a few days.

Ways to Prepare 

• RAW: Tatsoi can be eaten raw, and is tender enough to use as a salad base.

• COOKED: In terms of cooking, tatsoi has some similarities to spinach, and can be used in place of it. That said, their leaves are best prepared using quick cooking methods like sautéing, steaming, braising, and adding to soups.

RECIPES

• Tatsoi Salad (I Heart Umami)

• Ru Yi Cai (“As You Wish” Vegetables, 如意菜) (The Woks of Life)

• Spicy Stir Fried Tatsoi (Cook For Your Life)

• Browned Butter Tatsoi Pasta (Harvest 2 You)

Authored and compiled by Maya Marie of Deep Routes, Ayllen Kocher, and Amara Ullauri.

Purslane

Photo Source: University of Nevada, Reno

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About Purslane

Cooking & Storage

Recipes

ABOUT Purslane

Purslane is an adorable, juicy, tart plant that some might say is a combination of a mini nopal, watercress, and spinach. It has tear-drop “leaves”, fat stems, and vibrant little pinkish to yellow flowers that are all edible raw or cooked.

The origins of purslane are still not super clear, some researchers believe it may have originally grown in the wild or have been domesticated in Europe, while others have found different species in the Americas and Africa. Either way, most researchers believe the plant came into existence at least 4,000 years ago. It can be found in many Asian, Mexican and Southern European dishes.

COOKING & STORAGE

• Edible parts: Root, stems, and flowers

• Medicine and Nutrients: Carrot roots are packed with Vitamins A and K, and are a great source of potassium. Their leaves/tops are an incredible source of Vitamin C, fiber, and trace amounts of essential minerals.

• Storing and Shelf Stability: Gently wrap it in a towel then place in a loosely closed plastic bag and refrigerate for up to a few days. If you want to freeze purslane, steam it just until tender, squeeze out any excess moisture, cool, then wrap tightly in plastic and freeze.

• Cooking with Purslane: Although purslane is typically eaten raw in salads, you can also cook it using quick methods like sauteeing and stir-frying, or add it to soups.

Recipes 

• Zesty Blanched Purslane Salad (Izzy Cooking)

• Steamed Purslane (Mexico in My Kitchen)

• Purslane and Parsley Salad (Epicurious)

• Pickled Purslane (Spruce Eats)

Authored and compiled by Maya Marie of Deep Routes, and Amara Ullauri

Salad Mix

Photo Source: Aspen Center for Environmental Studies

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About Salad Mix

Cooking & Storage

Recipes

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ABOUT SALAD MIX

Typically a salad mix is a combination of tender greens that can include any variety of lettuces and baby mustards/brassicas.

Although Lettuces have their origins in Egypt, and Mustards have their origins across West and Central Asia and Italy, the concept of a salad mix was first recorded in Southern France where mesclun salads were gaining popularity in the early 20th Century. However, it’s worth noting that gathering a mixture of greens has been a common practice across the world for millennia, and it’s very likely that indigenous peoples of the Americas, Africa, and Asia were gathering and combining wild, tender greens and flowers for consumption even if there aren’t very many records of what they called those mixtures or how they dressed them.

The word salad comes from the Latin/Spanish word for Sal, and speaks to the use of salt, oils, and vinegars used to dress lettuce greens in ancient times throughout the Mediterranean. 

COOKING & STORAGE

• Edible parts: Leaves and tender stems

• Medicine and Nutrients: See collard, kale, and lettuce profiles. 

• Storing and Shelf Stability: Store washed salad mix in a paper towel lined container in the refrigerator for 7-10 days

COOKING WITH IT 

• RAW: Salad mixes are typically eaten raw and tossed with a dressing or vinaigrette. To make it into a complete meal you can add nuts, seeds, smoked meats, roasted vegetables, dried fruit, and cooked whole grains. 

• SAUTE: Salad mixes can also be sautéed or stir-fried to go with rice, noodles, or alongside a broth or eggs (scrambled, fried, or poached are some great egg preparations to eat with sauteed greens).

RECIPES

• Vietnamese Style Omelet With Herbaceous Salad (My Best Friend is Gluten Free)

• Sweet Potato Arugula Salad (sub in any salad mix) (Sweet Potato Soul)

• Herbs de Provence Salad Dressing (Sweet Potato Soul)

• Lemon Ginger Viniagrette (Chef Janet)

LEARN MORE

• Cooking with Lettuce (Woks of Life)

• Lettuce History Deep Dive (Seeds & Receipts)

Authored and compiled by Maya Marie of Deep Routes and Ayllen Kocher

Escarole

Escarole is like a hearty lettuce - a little bit bitter and very delicious! You can cook it in soups, sauté with loads of garlic or toss in salad with a sweet tangy dressing.

Storage: Store unwashed with a dampened paper towel in a perforated plastic bag and refrigerate. By changing the towel occasionally and keeping it damp, you'll be able to store the greens for up to a week.

Recipes and Ideas:

Here’s a place to start!

Pea Shoots

What’s Below:

About Pea Shoots

Cooking & Storage

Recipes

ABOUT pea Shoots

When grown to full maturity, peas produce a pod of legumes, however when harvested at a very early stage of growth in their life cycle prior to flowering they’re known as pea shoots. These shoots are typically ready in the summer in the Northeast and have delicate leaves on them.

The pea plant itself has origins in the Mediterranean and Southwest Asia where they’ve grown for thousands of years. However, Indigenous Hmong people of Southwest and East Asia are known as being the first to cook with and introduce pea shoots to other ethnic groups across Southeast Asia as well as some parts of Africa, where they’re typically eaten as a salad or quickly stir-fried green. Only in past two decades has it become a popular specialty food in the United States.

COOKING & STORAGE

• Edible parts: Leaves and stems

• Medicine and Nutrients: Pea shoots are rich in vitamins E, C and A; and provide a significant source of fiber and potassium.

• Storage: Place your pea shoots inside a brown paper bag, or wrap them with a paper towel and place them in the crisper drawer of your refrigerator. They should last a week. Do not freeze them. 

Ways to Prepare 

• RAW: The taste of pea shoots is sweet, grassy, and fresh. They’re typically eaten raw, in salads, and as a garnish for your favorite grain or vegetable bowl.

• COOKED: These light sprouts can be stir fried, steamed, and sauteed.

Recipes

• Stir Fried Pea Shoots + Garlic (Omnivore’s Cookbook)

• Pea Shoot Pesto (Urban Farmie)

• Simple Lemon Pasta with Parmesan and Pea Shoots (Life as A Strawberry)

Authored and compiled by Maya Marie of Deep Routes, Ayllen Kocher, and Amara Ullauri.