Chef Rachel was kind enough to send me a comment on this entry:

Hi Don,

I read your post. Would you prefer I sent comment to you or post them on your blog, or both? I appreciate you mentioning my book!

Tips: To tone down the bitter flavor of those hardy greens, omit the sea vegetable (dulse) and use 1 tsp. unrefined sea salt or 2 Tbsp. tamari soy sauce. I used the sea vegetable in the original recipe to keep the sodium lower. Kombu requires longer cooking so I don’t recommend it for that recipe, although you were wise to try it. If you want to experiment w/the sea veg, use dulse leaf, sold in the asian/macrobiotic section of whole foods market. You can also mail order dulse leaf (don’t use the flakes!) from the companies listed in the back of The Garden of Eating.

Also, when you serve collards, kale, or mustard greens, if you eat a bite of the greens with a bite of something else in the meal (eggs, fish, poultry, meat, tortilla, or rice) you’ll notice the flavor changes; the bitterness fades, and you can more easily get your taste buds used to the flavor. In time you can grow to enjoy the bitter flavor and to find greens pleasing at any meal from breakfast to dinner.

You might also want to try bok choy in the Braised Bok Choy or Baby Bok Choy recipe in the Garden of Eating. It’s less bitter and also a powerful source of nutrition.

In health, joy, and gratitude,

Chef Rachel Albert-Matesz
The Healthy Cooking Coach, Cooking Instructor, Author, Speaker,
Co-author of The Garden Of Eating: A Produce-Dominated Diet & Cookbook
Author of the newly released book: The Ice Dream Cookbook

♥Visit Rachel’s new blog♥
http://www.thehealthycookingcoach.com/

♥Rachel’s other web site♥
http://www.TheGardenOfEatingDiet.com/