Mustard Greens

Peppery, uncooked mustard greens make a great base for this modern-day Caesar salad. Cook up any leftover greens and use them in an omelet.

Turnip, mustard, and collard greens star in this southern-style soup.

Thanks to paprika, this meatless main has a spicy, smoky flavor. Domestic smoked paprika can be found at some supermarkets. For a spicier kick, use hot smoked Spanish paprika (Pimentón Picante or Pimentón de La Vera Picante), which is sold at specialty foods stores and at tienda.com.

Here's an updated version of a classic comfort-food casserole.

Roasted root vegetables and spicy greens complete the meal.

Cumin gives greens and tomatoes an exotic, almost Indian touch.

A decadent—but still healthy—vegetarian main.

Smoked pork shoulder usually isn't available at supermarkets, so you will need to order it in advance from your butcher. If you use ham shanks instead, try to find the kind without artificial flavors like liquid smoke. And don't throw out the cooking liquid; it's great for making soup.

Though this rich, intense, homey stew has the depth of a recipe handed down through generations, it's actually a modern interpretation, by Momofuku partner Joaquin Baca, of a Mexican stew he grew up eating, made with Japanese ingredients. And it's the best kind of comfort food: The dark greens, mushrooms, and burdock, braised with silky chicken in a savory broth, make this single dish feel like a satisfying, well-balanced meal.

Though they're a nod to the classic pairing of cooking greens with a ham hock, these gently bitter greens have several important differences: Because they are blanched rather than braised, they hold their intense color; bacon crumbled over the top, rather than cooked with the greens, retains its crispness; and smoky chipotle gives the dish an alluring heat.

Use shaved Parmesan in place of the goat cheese, if you like.

>Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are adapted from Floyd Cardoz's book, One Spice, Two Spice. The dish is also part of a special menu Chef Cardoz created for Epicurious's Wine.Dine.Donate program. I first visited Kashmir, up in the mountains of northern India, when I was in my late teens, and the food made a huge impression. Although the cuisine is most famous for its meat dishes and Persian-inspired rice pilafs, the treatment of greens is exceptional as well. In Kashmir, this dish is made with kohlrabi greens in season, but it is equally delicious when made with any hearty braising greens such as collards, chard (the colored varieties are very pretty), mustard greens, and/or turnip greens. Bok choy and pea shoots are good additions to the mix.

This recipe makes much more dressing than you'll need for the salad, but it's so delicious you'll be glad to have extra in the refrigerator.

We used strongly flavored wild greens because a mild salad would get lost with the rest of the menu. The dressing is a simple and classic vinaigrette.

Baby spinach can stand in for the mâche.

If you can't find mustard greens, broccoli rabe is a good substitute. Cut off and discard the tough stem ends, then coarsely chop the tender stems, leaves, and florets.