New Potatoes with Wilted Mizuna

Our C.S.A. share has been amazing this year. It's the first year we are getting veggies, fruits, cheese, and eggs from Willow Haven Farm. Every two weeks this amazing box of goodies shows up on our front porch. It's been a learning experience for me, as the box has such a crazy variety of veggies. There always seems to be one or two things I haven't encountered before. The challenge then becomes, what do I make with this? 

This time, Mizuna was a new one for me. It's a delicately spiky green with a peppery taste. 

According to Wikipedia—

Mizuna , also known as "water greens", shui cai, kyona, Japanese mustard, potherb mustard, Japanese greens, California peppergrass, or spider mustard is a cultivated variety of Brassica rapa nipposinica. The name is also used for Brassica juncea var. japonica.

The taste of mizuna has been described as a "piquant, mild peppery flavor...slightly spicy, but less so than arugula." It can be eaten raw in salads, but is also used in stir-fries, soups, etc.

Mizuna has been cultivated in Japan since ancient times, but most likely originated in China.

I thought by pairing this spicy green with some creamy new potatoes, each would benefit from the presence of the other. It's a simple recipe and it makes a great side dish. We had it with a nice London Broil, made on the grill. Let me know what you think and how you change this basic recipe!

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Ingredients:

5 or 6 medium new potatoes (or a bunch of little ones as seen here)

4 cups mizuna, washed with heavier stems removed

¼ cup chopped or slivered red onion

4 cloves of garlic (more or less to taste) crushed or finely minced

3 Tbsp. olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

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1.       Wash potatoes and remove any eyes, etc. with peeler. Cut into bite size pieces (about 1”)

2.       Boil potatoes till they are al dente, NOT cooked completely. A sharp knife can be inserted but potato pieces still feel firm. They will finish cooking when sautéing in pan with veggies. Drain potatoes and set aside.

3.  In large no-stick fry pan or wok, heat olive oil and sauté onion till translucent

4.  Add garlic and mizuna to pan to wilt leaves and cook garlic a bit, about a minute or so.

5.  Add drained potatoes to pan with veggies and turn up heat a bit to start to brown potatoes. Season with salt and a generous amount of fresh ground pepper.

ENJOY and let me know what you think. I think I really love this green. A funny side note: not knowing how this green tasted, I thought I'd add some to my lovely fruit smoothie in the morning as a way to get more fiber/greens in my day. Let me tell you... DO NOT DO THIS! It was horrible. All I tasted was peppery/spicy greens. I got about half of it down then had to dump the rest. Ugh. Horrible. Cooked and in salads, it's great!