Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Holla to the Collards! Don't hate.


There is a silver lining to every green. What!

Poor little collard, trying so hard to stand out on the produce shelf. Screaming "pick me" in gym class, only to be outshone by it's more familiar green sisters. "It's just not fair. If only people knew." The little collard told itself.

OK, fantasy literature aside, I have to say that this beautiful, tender green did not always have my heart. I wanted to love ALL greens, knowing the major health benefits (<= you want to read this) to having them in my daily diet, but found some of them to be really bitter and only forcibly edible. Collards were at the top of that list, until I found that a longer cooking method makes them deliciously unavoidable! I mean, that's how they do it in the south, right? So...

This recipe calls for cooking the collards in a good amount of vegetable broth, and you might wonder what to do with the excess broth when they're done. Do not discard! This broth makes for a very nutritious gravy, containing water-soluble vitamins and minerals that have been leached from the greens. And, it is very tasty. You can use this gravy, which is known as pot likker (I still laugh at the term), to top off accompanying meat, add it to soups/stews, or as it's done in the south, serve it with some corn bread for dipping. Yum!

Serves 4 as a side dish
1 large bunch of collard greens
2 cloves of garlic (1tbsp), minced
2 1/2 cups of vegetable broth or meat broth (about enough to just cover the greens in the beginning)
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 tablespoon olive oil

1. Rinse collard leaves under cold water. Chop off the rough ends of the stems and discard. Stack and roll into a cigar shape and then slice into 1" strips.
2. Heat oil over medium/low heat in a medium saucepan. Add garlic and saute for 1-2 minutes.
3. Add the greens to the pot and stir around to coat for 1-2 more minutes.
4. Season with salt, add broth and bring up to a simmer on medium high heat.
5. Cover, reduce heat to low. Cook for about 35-45 minutes or until greens are very tender and not bitter. Check about half way through and add more broth if needed. Because the size of greens may vary, general rule is there should always be enough broth to cover at least half of the greens during cooking.
6. *Optional - squeeze fresh lemon juice over them before serving.

To be continued...
Next stop: The mustard green