Don't Throw Out Wilting Greens, Do This Instead

Pciturethis: You're at the grocery store and pick up a big container of leafy greens. You've got visions of grandeur in your head, plans to eat them all before the expiration date, perhaps consistently over several healthy meals. However, despite your best intentions, you don't make it to the bottom of the bag or carton before they inevitably begin to wilt. It happens to the best of us. Even so, food waste is a total bummer. Luckily, wilted greens are still safe to eat. Ones that are spoiled and mushy are still off the table, but if they are just starting to droop and you don't find an abundance of black spots scattered throughout, there are plenty of ways to put them to good use.

From incorporating them into soups and stews to blending them into sauces, smoothies, and more, your wilted greens may have a lot more going for them than you realize. Not anymore, though. After you get a peek at the tasty ways to use lackluster leafy greens, you can breathe a bit more life into them and avoid simply resigning them to the trash (black or mushy pieces notwithstanding!).

Wilted leaves are one of the things you should be wary of when shopping for produce. However, if your greens grow limp once they are under your care, there is a clever way to revive them. Of course, it won't work on produce that's gone too far, but you might be surprised at how well some leafy greens plump and crisp up after taking a little bath.

According to a commenter on Reddit, soaking sad lettuce in a bowl of cold water in the fridge for a couple of hours, or maybe even overnight, will restore it to its original glory, sometimes better than purchased. Just make sure to use the greens right away once the magic is done. A YouTube video by Stop Food Waste backs up this claim but suggests soaking wilted greens in an ice bath for 30 minutes. 

This may sound counterintuitive, but Bon Appétit recommends reviving droopy greens in a bath of hot water. Interesting, sounds like some trial runs are in order. Either way, water is the key to breathing new life into sub-par greens. Cool, huh?

If reviving wilted greens in water isn't in the cards, eggs are here for the win when it comes to helping you use them up before they pass the point of no return. Juicy and moist, eggs have what it takes to both mask the regrettable texture and the enhance flavor of wilted greens. 

Additionally, eggs are just as versatile as leafy greens, so there is no limit to what kind of pairings and dishes you can whip up. You can easily fold them into omelets, stir them into frittatas and quiches, or go the easy route and mix them into your scramble. In particular, collard greens hold up well in a frittata, and spinach and kale are shoo-ins for all of them. However, whatever you choose, the eggs will do the heavy lifting and let your sub-par produce blend into the background. Egg dishes to the rescue!

Whether you know it or not, wilted greens can become a dish all their own. This, of course, begs the question: Can you start with leafy greens that are already a bit droopy? You betcha! To pull off this dish that sounds too good to be true, all you have to do is sauté or microwave your lesser-than greens with a bit of olive oil. Some seasonings won't hurt, either, like salt, pepper, and garlic powder, but you get the idea.

When it comes to microwaving your wilted greens, toss them in olive oil and put them in the appliance for about 30 seconds. It's that easy. Sautéing them doesn't require any fancy footwork, either. However, while several people recommend this use for wilted lettuce on Reddit, one commenter cautions that you want to sauté it quickly so it doesn't become too bitter to thoroughly enjoy — something that happens rather fast since the greens are already softer from the start. Once you have your dish of wilted greens all sorted, regardless of the cooking method, there's practically no limit to the things you can do with it. You can enjoy it as a side dish, garnish meat with it, add it to a stir-fry, and so much more.

If you are looking for an easy meal, pasta has your back. Always has, always will. Part of the reason it's so simple is that pasta is welcome to a world of ingredient additions, whether that's cheese, meat, veggies, or your favorite sauce. Naturally, leafy greens are among one of the best, easiest additions to add to pasta dishes, and wilted ones work just as well as those that are freshly crisp. When stirred into a warm bowl of pasta, leafy greens are going to become soft, regardless of how they started. So yeah, noodle dishes are a no-brainer for wilted leaves of all kinds.

If quick and easy aren't at the top of your priority list, you can also add wilted greens to countless baked pasta dishes. Mac and cheese with collard greens or spinach is a favorite of mine, but even those only scratch the surface. Cannelloni with Swiss chard and fresh goat cheese is a pro pick, and so is vegetable lasagna with spinach or kale. Really, any of the baked pasta dishes you have on your regular roster will most likely accommodate some greens, so don't count the wilted ones out.

Now that you know wilted greens can easily be incorporated into baked pasta dishes, I thought I'd stay on the oven train and introduce all types of sweet and savory baked dishes to the equation. That's right, the fun doesn't stop with pasta.

Everything from calzones to breads to muffins will take your wilted greens into the fold, so you can avoid throwing them in the garbage. And let's not forget pizza — how could we ever? You may have had spinach or arugula on top of a pizza before, but typically it's added fresh at the end. When it comes to limp leaves, though, you'll want to bake them with the rest of the pie and the other ingredients to ensure the droopy structure is hidden.

Savory baked goods like spinach bread or puff pastry are an obvious pick for wilted greens, but sweet breads and muffins can also benefit from a little infusion of them. Not only will they help balance out the sweetness, but they'll add a touch of nutrition. Who can argue with that?

When you hear the word pesto, you probably think of basil pesto, or pesto alla Genovese, the most iconic version of the sauce. However, pesto can be made with all kinds of different ingredients. As it turns out, the term pesto comes from the Italian word "pestare," meaning to crush, and refers to the rustic style of the sauce rather than a specific rendition of the recipe. With this in mind, mixing up pesto with your wilted greens is a pro move. Paired with oil, seasonings, and your blender, wilted greens reach a consistency that is darn near perfect for pesto.

No surprises here, but once you make pesto, there are many creative ways to use it. You can slather it on meats, spread it on sandwiches, stir it into vegetable dishes, and so much more. That goes for basil pesto and any other kind of wilted greens that go into making it. I've definitely prepared basil pesto with sad leaves, and it turned out just as good as if the produce had been fresh. The same top-notch results can be achieved with wilted kale, spinach, and arugula, among others.

Smoothies and fresh juices are a shoo-in for wilted greens of all kinds. For starters, they will either be blended to a pulp or juiced, so a sub-par droopy texture won't even be a factor. Additionally, depending on what other ingredients go into your beverage, there's a good chance you won't even be able to tell if any leafy greens are in there. For anyone who's trying to incorporate more nutrition into their diet — and aren't we all? — this option is a definite win-win.

Not only do countless online commenters recommend using wilted greens in smoothies, but yours truly does, too. Spinach is typically my go-to, but that's probably not surprising considering how many times I've talked it up thus far. Regardless, it blends into smoothies like a pro, and with enough berries, it's undetectable. The same can be said for a myriad of juices. However, if you prefer to taste your greens, you can make spicy green juice with kale and romaine lettuce (amongst other things), and many other yummy recipes. Just remember, wilted greens are friends with smoothies and juices. What may have previously been meant for the trash can find new life in the right blender.

Incorporating wilted greens into soups and stews is something I am well acquainted with, so you can rest assured when I tell you it's as easy as it is delicious. As you might expect, the abundance of liquid in most bowls of soup masks the less-than-desirable structure of drooping leaves. I mean, they get soggy in the broth anyway, so you won't be able to notice that they started off a little lackluster. Since that's the entire point — well, that and avoiding unnecessary food waste — soups and stews are a darn near perfect application for any sad leaves you have in your fridge.

My favorite leafy greens to add to soups and stews are kale, spinach, and bok choy. Spinach and kale make wonderful additions to everything from lentil noodle soup to classic vegetable soup to ramen (bok choy is a shoo-in for ramen as well). However, as is the case with soup in general, the sky is the limit when it comes to adding greens, even wilted ones. Collard greens are perfect for slow-cooker Southern black eyed pea soup, microgreens can be stirred into just about anything your heart desires, and the list goes on. If wilted greens are in your fridge, you might need to add soup to your menu for dinner tonight.