January is the height of the season in Southern California for the greens we all love.

Kale, Spinach, Rapini, Chard, Mustard, Pea Tendrils. You see them this time of year at the market. They are so beautiful, like masterful Baroque still-life paintings of the Dutch Golden Age.  The intensity of detail of these greens can almost be off putting. Intricate shapes, complex gradations of color; thick, lush and vibrant. Cooking with them just makes you feel like an artist.

But if you are able to look past all the variations of green greens, you might notice another type of green entirely. And that green is RED!

You may be familiar with Red Leaf Lettuce. It’s a pretty alternative to the Green Leaf Lettuce you find in your local supermarket. Aside from its striking red blush, it tastes fairly similar to its more common green brother. Though, I swear it gets all black and slimy much quicker than the green guy.

But unlike green/red leaf lettuce, there are greens at the Farmers Market now that not only differ in their stunning red chromatics…but you will find they have a whole other flavor palate to boot. Perhaps it’s the coloration. I have researched this and cannot find a definitive answer. But, especially among the so-called bitter greens, the red varieties are often milder; sometimes noticeably sweeter. And I mean sweet like honey.

This week at the Hollywood Farmers Market I was on my weekly crawl to find something interesting. But I had a secret; I actually had a plan this time. I had my sites set on salsify.

What is salsify you ask? Maybe you know it better as oyster plant or goatsbeard. No?

It’s an ancient plant, long utilized as food. It is related to the sunflower and is in the family Asteraceae, which makes it, basically, a wildflower. But this information probably does not help you identify it because we don’t eat the flowers. Or at least I don’t eat the flowers…they’re just too darn pretty!

As a food, salsify is primarily a root vegetable. But the green grass-like leaves and stems are edible and often sold still attached to the root.