Green vegetables

Most green vegetables (green beans, peas, summer squash, asparagus, broccoli, and so on) will become very soft with a whole day’s worth of cooking. Cook them separately, or adjust your expectations. Especially if you’re going to puree them into a soup or sauce, you can cook hearty greens like kale, turnip greens, mustard greens, or collard greens all day (and with broccoli it won’t matter if it’s too soft if you’re pureeing it anyway); if you want distinct pieces of the leaves, cook greens separately and add them in the evening. Add raw spinach at the last minute—the heat of the dish in the cooker will wilt the leaves in a few minutes’ time.