Sometimes greens are red
Sometimes silence is loud, or a situation is clearly confusing and often I’m busy doing nothing. Sometimes politicians jumble up a ton of words in an attempt at eloquence but make no sense. We call leafy vegetables greens even if they’re purple, yet it’s still a wonderful world.
For example, Japanese red mustard is a mildly spicy but tasty colorful green somewhere in the neighborhood of maroon-purple. Like other mustards, it grows well in our area, and if allowed to flower and produce seed pods will self-sow all over the place. I appreciate finding little sprouts I didn’t plant. A whole gaggle of little red mustard sprouts once claimed the middle of a pathway for a season. They tolerate transplanting if you know what you’re doing, so you can relocate them behind young lettuce and arugula plants. You’ll be a design genius like me.
Seedlings of lettuce, which we call salad greens, will also transplant well if they have long enough roots, and there are many non-green varieties. Merlot lettuce is so deep red it’s purple. Merveille des Quatre Saisons leaves are green in the center but deep red on the most visible parts and will handle both heat and cold better than other lettuces. Other varieties are splotchy red for your visual and eating delight. Spoiler alert – lettuces of all colors taste like lettuce.
Chicory varieties might be green but then… radicchio is a white-veined red-leafed chicory shaped like a small cabbage. It has a delightful bitter taste and holds a trainload of vitamins, minerals and other useful components that help to start your motor.
Same for Italico Rossi, a chicory sometimes called Red Dandelion because the leaves have red stems bearing green leaves with jagged edges. Chicories bear well into autumn and, with help, can weather cooler weather. Some chicories are shaped like typical leaf lettuces, and – yes, it’s true, I’ve seen ‘em – some are green.
A variety of celosia known as Lagos Spinach produces way cool edible leaves on a stalk that in Nigeria gets taller than Draymond Green (which, like red mustard, is not green and is sometimes spicy in a well-intentioned way). The leaves are green centered by a maroon tear drop with fractal edges. I include them like any other leafy vegetable in stir fry or vegetable mishmashes. They seem to like our climate, and as a bonus there’s a flower at the end of the season. I’m a fan… a spot of color to pass the time.
Just like amaranth. Amaranth is related to pigweed and lamb’s quarters, both which will spread themselves willy-nilly with reckless abandon. Maybe I exaggerate, but maybe not. I first planted red-leaved amaranth in my new garden 14 years ago, and seedlings still volunteer. The plant produces a tall stalk with many edible leaves and on top an extended tassel holding hundreds of seeds. Aztecs valued amaranth for its seeds. I use the young leaves as I would spinach or kale, and as a bonus they contain the most complete protein of any plant… gluten-free, red and nutritious.
Chard leaves are usually green, but the stalks and veins can be white, orange or red. The red or orange coloration is from anthocyanins which research maintains contributes to heart health, safeguards us from cancers and contributes to longevity. Sounds good so far. Beets, in the same family as chard, also flash color in their leaves. I might be the first observer to call beets flashy.
Red Russian kale originated in Siberia. No wonder it turned red. The leaves are dark green with pink-purple veins. Some older varieties have more purple in the leaves. Scarlet kale (actually dark purple) will handle colder weather and for nutrition will turn your dial to twelve.
Some cabbages are purple. They start out gray-green with purple veins and then purple takes over. There are also Asian leafy vegetables such as mizuna with red varieties. I’ve grown purple kohlrabis. There are plenty colors available, the point being greens are green only until the anthocyanin kicks in.