In today’s Encyclo-feedia entry, we’re answering a question that should prove useful to anyone who’s interested in broadening their greens knowledge: what do mustard greens look like? As a Southerner and born-and-bread Appalachian girl, I both love and cook with all sorts of crazy greens, all of the time – I adore them. Because they’re so healthy and nutritious for us and because they really just carry their weight in a recipe – be it a soup, pasta, or a good smoothie – we love and use mustard greens over and over again.
This post is intended to help you identify mustard greens just by looking at them, so you can snatch them up when you’re shopping at your go-to supermarket or even better … your local farmer’s market. Then, you can whip up some of our favorite mustard greens recipes … like our classic Southern Style Mustard Greens (they’re delicious). Or, we have a meat-free version (no offense, ham hocks) and a slow cooker version as well. Enjoy! Go and get your greens on …
What do mustard greens look like?
Many types of mustard greens are pretty easy to spot, since they really do sport a distinctive silhouette all their own. Whereas most kale varieties are super curly and craggly, and collards tend to have a much cleaner smoothness to their appearance, mustard greens are … kind of all over the place. But in most cases, you’ll find that they’re more or less consistently “frilly” in their look. A little rougher around the edges, if you will.
But here’s the thing – there are several varieties of mustard greens (brassica juncea), each possessing its own unique appearance and look. There are red ones and “giant” ones and super jagged edged ones, and sparsely leaved lacy ones, and some that actually look a lot like collards, in fact. We’ve rounded up a collection of images below to help you recognize and understand what several of the most common varieties of mustard green look like. These are all varieties of seeds that can be purchased from High Mowing Seed Company – which we absolutely recommend, so you can really get a great feel and taste for the whole wide world of mustard greens.
Mustard Greens Texture
The majority of the surface area of a standard, common curly brown mustard green leaf (also known as vegetable mustard, Chinese mustard, or Indian mustard) will be smooth to the touch. It’s the outer edges though, that really can help identify a leaf as a member of the “mustard” or “brassica juncea” family as they tend to get all jagged and raggedy in a way that our friends in the spinach family could only dream …
Mustard Greens Color
Greens and purples. That’s the short of it. While it’s true that there are many varities of mustard greens out there, you will really only see them sporting two primary colors across both their leaves and stalks. Green is the predominant hue, as you would expect, but there are several varieties that have lovely purple shades as well. But, even these red and purple guys still possess hints of a bright and defining emerald green color.
Typically in these lesser known red and purple varieties, the leaves themselves will be lovely shades of deep purple while the stalks will be a vibrant, verdant green. Here are two photos of some red mustard green varieties via High Mowing Organic Seeds (a great place from which to purchase mustard green seeds to grow your own garden), which demonstrates that very fact.
Mustard Greens Shape
Again, since there are several varieties of mustard greens available, it should follow that they do not all look exactly alike. Until I began researching, purchasing/ordering, and cooking with mustard greens, I honestly had no idea there were so many different shapes and colors – so many varieties.
As you can see from the mustard greens photo gallery above (which only shows a small sampling of varieties), there’s a range of mustard green leaf shapes and sizes. Not even pictured is the Tendergreen variety, which is a hybrid of spinach and mustard greens and looks just like that – a mix of those two shapes. It actually looks something like watercress, so there’s yet another comparison. The frillier types of mustard greens such as mizuna and golden frill resemble kale and even frisee in some cases, and the more broad/wide and smooth leaved varieties can almost be confused with collards and turnip greens.
What to look for when buying mustard greens
“When buying mustard greens, look for fresh, crisp leaves that are a vibrant green color. Smaller leaves will have a milder flavor, while larger leaves will be more pungent. To store mustard greens, wrap them in a damp paper towel and keep them in the fridge for about a week. Don’t rinse them until you’re ready to use them.” – Missouri Botanical Garden
