Making Mustard Greens Edible

The other day, I was picking up kale. 4 bunches of kale, to be exact (like all normal people do, right?) :). Except one bunch wasn't curly leaf kale. I discovered after I got home that it was....

mustard greens! Oh how I dread mustard greens. I've tried a few times to like them, but they always just seems so... potent. Too spicy, or peppery, or intense. I've juiced them, made salads, but to no avail... I couldn't like them. Maybe it was because I never tried cooking them? I generally don't cook my greens (and I love eating raw collard wraps! that's a pretty intense green to most people :)), but as I looked up recipes, I found quite a few that were appealing. In the end, I went with Susan's recipe for Balsamic-Glazed Chickpeas with Mustard Greens. By the way, if you don't already read her blog, go check it out! She has tons of easy, fast recipes and it's all vegan and delicious.

Of course, I added fat to the fat-free recipe and used Earth Balance (sooo buttery and yummy!) and a splash of extra virgin olive oil. Cooking the onion, garlic, mushrooms, tomatoes and carrots:

Adding the greens:

It looks like a lot, but they wilt down quite a bit. After 2 minutes:

I love how colorful this dish is!

After I took the greens & veggies out of the pan, I added balsamic, coconut aminos (soy-free, GF, vegan, to replace the soy sauce - if you haven't tried this stuff yet, you must - sooo delicious!), agave and chickpeas:

After the liquid reduced and the chickpeas had some nice color on them:

The finished product:

You know what? I actually like mustard greens. Maybe they are like tofu and you just have to cook them the right way. I love changing up the greens I eat (kale, spinach, spring mix, romain, red leaf, boston lettuce, arugala, watercress, chard, collards) to make sure I'm getting a variety of nutrients. Of course, kale almost always is in the house. I can't get enough! But now mustard greens can come home with me too.

In not-so-favorable cooking, I tried these new veggie burgers (bought with my own money, or more accurately, my hubby's since he picked them up for me):

Frozen meat patties in the wrapper: (the wrapper may have helped the flavor)

Of course, after making Angela's amazing veggie burgers, and Mama Pea's veggie burgers (seriously, these recipes are all amazing and I have made them all, most more than once. try them now!), any frozen patty is subpar. But these were terrible! They taste chalky and underseasoned and ... just gross. Sorry veggie burgers, but you're a no go. Score: husband = 1 for buying veggie burgers. New veggie burgers = 0 (major fail). Naturally, I can't get the Yucon Gold White Bean Basil burgers out of my mind. Sarah - you amaze me. I want your book to show up on my doorstep now!

Any awesome food finds or major fails for you? Tell me about it!