The Laurel Health Cookery: A Collection of Practical Suggestions and Recipes for the Preparation of Non-Flesh Foods in Palatable and Attractive Ways

of which we use only the tips unless the stalks are small and tender: _pigweed_, _red root_, _lamb’s quarters_, _purslane_ or “pusley,” with _poke shoots_, the garden _turnip tops_, _cabbage sprouts_, young _beet tops_ and _endive_. Some are better in combinations, such as milkweed and narrow dock, narrow dock and pigweed, milkweed and purslane and purslane and beet tops. Do not try to wash greens in a small quantity of water. Put them when first gathered into a large vessel, a wash boiler, a tub or a deep sink in which the water will be deep enough to “swash” them up and down with the hands. When they are thoroughly revived _lift_ them from the water (do not drain the water off), empty the vessel, rinse it well and take another quantity of water. Continue the washing, changing the water until no sand is found in the bottom of the vessel. Dandelion and some other greens require trimming and looking over carefully after reviving before the final washing. When ready to cook, throw greens into an abundance of boiling salted water and cook until tender. The time required for cooking varies; narrow dock requires 20 m., purslane a little longer, pigweed 40 m., milkweed 2-3 hours, beet greens 2½-3 hours, and dandelions 3½-4 hours. It is a good plan to parboil dandelions. When greens are perfectly tender, lift them carefully with a skimmer from the water into a colander and press with a plate until as dry as possible. The water from all greens (except dandelion if at all bitter and too large a quantity of narrow dock) is invaluable for soup stock, so pour it off carefully from the sand that may be in the bottom of the kettle even after the most careful washing. When the leaves are long and stringy it is well to cut across the mass of greens a few times before serving, but the flavor and character are much impaired by too fine chopping. Pass oil, lemon juice or quarters of lemon, French or Improved Mayonnaise dressing, or Sauce Amèricaine with greens. =Poke Shoots=--scoke--pigeon