Mustard Greens
Brassica juncea var. rugosa
I
f you’ve ever put a lettuce leaf in a sandwich, plants, they tend to bolt in hot sunny days, so I’m
like the L in BLT, then prepare to welcome a inclined to plant them out for a fall crop, when
new arrival with open arms because here comes “the cooler the sweeter” rule comes into play.
its splendid replacement: the young, tender If you are fond of rice dishes, such as pilaf,
mustard leaf of the cabbage family. risotto, and fried rice, then finely slice (chiff on-
With its mild bite, fresh mustard greens can ade) the leaves and stir them into the very hot
take the place of mustard pastes and, in so doing, rice during the last minutes of cooking. It will
provide a remarkable instant upgrade to the truly be a shot to the taste buds—and it looks
standard slather of bright yellow mustard. wonderful.
(How’s that for a sales pitch?)
The plant itself is a native of the Himalayan
regions of India, where some of the oldest writ-
ten recipes in the world record its cultivation The Numbers
over 5,000 years ago. It grows quite tall—up to Mustard greens have excellent levels of antioxidants,
2 feet—though not nearly as high as its cousin vitamins C and E, carotenes, and glucosinolates. But
the Brussels sprout (see page 96), and needs be careful if you are prone to kidney stones.
10–12 inches of clear soil space in each direc- For each 100 g raw (3.5 oz ; 1 cup): 26 calories, 0 g fat,
tion to fl ourish. 0 g saturated fat, 5 g carbohydrate, 3 g protein, 3 g
Like most of the bigger, deeper-green leafed dietary fiber, 25 mg sodium
184 • GROWING AT THE SPEED OF LIFE
