Salads are tasty and healthy, of course, but when you have a hankering for something different give one of these other ways to use spring greens a try.
Whether you’re growing your own, getting weekly CSA boxes, or shopping at the farmer’s market spring greens tend to be prolific and frugal.
Preserve Fresh Greens
If you’re faced with just too many greens to eat before they go bad, consider preserving them. Greens can be canned, frozen, and dehydrated for eating in soups, casseroles, smoothies and more.
Recipes for Fresh Greens
Breakfast
There’s something very tasty about greens and eggs together. There are quiches, frittatas, scrambles, and more. These egg based dishes can use copious amounts of greens because they tend to shrivel up fast. Beyond egg dishes there are some other creative breakfast uses for those spring greens as well.
Lemon Balm Drop Biscuits
These are easy and flaky, the perfect base for some honey or homemade berry jam at breakfast.
Spinach and Feta Quiche
This Spinach and Feta Quiche is a delicious vegetarian savory tart for breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner. Perfect for any meal of the day!
Ham and Spinach Breakfast Strata
Ham and Spinach Breakfast Strata is an easy make-ahead breakfast casserole. It’s filled with crusty bread, ham, spinach, and a cheesy egg filling, then baked to perfection in the oven.
Sauces
Pesto and other sauces are a great way to make tasty use of lots of greens in simple recipes. And while pesto is traditionally made with basil and pine nuts but we should not be limited to only those choices as there are so many tasty options.
Lemon Balm Oregano Pesto
Lemon balm oregano pesto is a bright and flavorful pesto that makes the most frugal use of ever abundant garden herbs.
Chimichurri Sauce
Chimichurri is a bright and tangy sauce featuring simple & healthy ingredients like parsley, oregano, garlic, vinegar & oil. Keep a jar in your fridge and drizzle it on savory foods for a pop of intense herbaceous flavor.
Jamaican Green Seasoning
An easy-to-make seasoning that is chock full of amazing Caribbean flavors, Jamaican Green Seasoning is super versatile and can be used in all sorts of recipes.
Drinks
There are, of course, green smoothies which are not exactly a novel idea these days. They don’t have to taste green at all and it can use up a large amount of greens in a small and tasty package perfect for days on the go.
Sneaky Green Smoothie Recipe
This sneaky green smoothie is packed with leafy spinach but you can’t tell! This is perfect for the veggie hater who won’t eat anything green.
Delicious Kale Smoothie
The only kale smoothie recipe you’ll ever need: not only good for you, but also delicious! This detoxifying protein-packed green smoothie tastes amazingly refreshing and only takes 5 minutes to make!
Arugula Smoothie with Avocado
This easy arugula smoothie uses healthy bitter greens, tart pineapple, and fatty, rich avocado for a filling, delicious vegan drink.
Hearty Main Courses
On their own, greens seem like a light meal but combine them with some grains, meat, cheese, eggs, or any combination of those and they become something much more substantial.
Dandelion Egg Noodles
Make egg noodles for soups and more with those dandelion greens growing right in the back yard.
Creamy Lettuce Soup
Creamy Lettuce Soup is a delicious, healthy recipe that uses 1 head of lettuce. Combined with heavy cream, chicken broth and spices, this is a great way to add lettuce to your diet! I love using Bibb lettuce in this recipe but Romaine and Iceberg work good too!
Minestra: Healthy Greens and Beans
It may not be the prettiest dish, but it sure is delicious! Minestra is a typical Italian peasant dish that is super nutritious and chock full of greens!
Dessert
Tossing greens into cakes or cookies might not seem like a tasty idea but in most cases the greens add a huge nutritional component while leaving behind no actual ‘green’ flavor. Spring herbs can impart lots of flavor, too.
Fresh Mint Cake with Dark Chocolate Mint Frosting
Use the first herbs of spring in this fresh mint cake with dark chocolate mint frosting for a simple and yet elegant treat.
Anise Hyssop Whoopie Pies
Whoopie pies are simply soft cookies sandwiched around frosting and in this case they're licorice flavored thanks to the use of fresh anise hyssop.
Vanilla Spinach Cake with Vanilla Frosting
This Vanilla Spinach Cake is bright green, but the flavor of the spinach fades away so it just tastes like a vanilla cake – but it has an incredible color! It’s a fun hidden vegetable cake, that’s delicious and slightly healthier.
Christina Conte says
This is an excellent idea as I often run out of ideas for healthier dishes with greens! Thanks for including my minestra!
Katherine says
So many great recipes and ideas here! Thanks for including my spinach cake.
Sylvie says
So many delicious ideas – definitely all great ways to include more greens in our diet!