Collard greens cook-a-long

What are they? - Collard greens are a dark leafy vegetable, part of the Acephala Group, which includes kale and spring greens. The name "collard" is a corrupted form of the word "colewort" (the wild cabbage plant).

How do you eat them? - Collard greens are very nutritious, and can be served as a side dish, or as the foundation for an entree mixed with proteins and / or other vegetables.

Why do you eat them? - Collard greens are delicious, nutritious, and inexpensive. One typical bunch usually costs a little over $1.75 and can provide 4 servings. Collard grow pretty much year round, and are almost always available in stores.

The availability of collards year round, and their low cost, meant that they became a staple food of rural southerners back in the day, who would season them with whatever meat they had available. This recipe is a modernized version that can serve as either a side dish, or as an entree and complete meal. It can also be made vegetarian by simply excluding the protein.

Regardless, contrary to popular belief, collards aren't just for black people, or poor whites, as they offer everyone the opportunity
to enjoy a variety of healthy and nutritious meals.

Let's begin.

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This batch will use some smoked pork shanks as the protein source. I tend to alternate the proteins from something very traditional, like smoked ham-hocks, to something lighter and less fatty, like smoked turkey or chicken. Virginia ham is another excellent source of protein for collards.

Notice that the ingredients list is per bunch. 1 bunch of greens is enough for 2 people, but since they freeze well, I always go for 2 to 3 bunches and just save them for use throughout the week.

The flavor profile for this recipe is similar to Louisiana Cajun meals, and we'll be using the trinity, and many of the same seasonings.

The first thing we want to do is inspect our greens and wash them. Greens can grow in some pretty sandy soil, and rain can splatter that sand up and onto the leaves, so we need to clean them thoroughly.

Take and inspect each individual leaf, getting rid of any that are fucked up. Then lay them flat and remove excess stem. Some will completely remove the stem and center ribs together, but I find that cooking the central rib adds a nice texture to the greens, and they soak up the broth the way celery does in soups. Once you've removed the stems, then cut the greens down the center, roll them up like a cigar, and cut them into strips the size of your choosing. I make mine about a finger or two wide.

Once your greens have been cut into strips, it's time to soak and wash them.

Place your greens into a pot big enough to hold them, fill it with cold water, add a handful of salt and about 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar, mix them up and let them soak for about 20 mins. This process will help loosen up any soil or dust accumulated on the leaves, and will kill any critters you may have missed.

After 20 minutes, give the greens a good mixing by hand and strain off the water. Fill up the pot with cold water again, and give the greens another good mixing by hand, then strain off the water again. Fill up the pot one final time, give the greens a final mix by hand, and then strain the water and set the greens aside. By this third and final rinse, your water should be pretty much clear, and your greens should be clean and ready to cook.

While your greens are soaking, it's time to start seasoning the broth.

You can use a single pot, however, my stock pots are thin and terrible for anything but simmering liquid, so I'll be using a dutch oven as well for sweating the veggies.

The first thing I did is placed the pork shanks in a stock pot and covered them with liquid. You can use water, but stock is preferred. Turn the heat on and bring it to a simmer.

Next sweat your veggies, add your garlic, and then add the seasonings. Stir them in and give the spices a chance to roast up a bit in the pan and become fragrant, then add them to stock pot and stir them into the proteins.

You have just created a delicious broth that will flavor your greens. We're going to let this simmer until the meat is nice and tender.

Here's some music while we wait for the meat to get tender: youtube.com/watch?v=OhEHB0a7Uyg

Once the meat is tender enough to fall off the bone, go ahead and fish it out of the broth. The total time this takes will be dependent on what meat you use. Separate excess fat, skin, and bones, then chop it up a little bit so it can be more evenly distributed throughout the broth. Add it back to the broth, than add your clean greens, and your bell pepper.

From here it's just a matter of simmering the greens until they're as tender as you want them. Some people like them almost mushy, but I prefer tender with a little bite to the ribs like celery in soup. Total simmer time usually hovers around 1 hour.

One thing I forgot to mention is to skim off the excess fats that build up in the broth before you put your greens in for the final simmer. The easiest way to do this is to bring the broth back up to a rolling boil after you put the meat back in, and then skim the fats from surface as they collect on the sides. Once you've got most of it removed, add your greens and reduce heat to a simmer.

When they're done, they'll have a nice dark green color, and the ribs will have absorbed a lot of broth.

To serve, you can either use a slotted spoon to pull out the veggies and meat and serve as a side item, or you can ladle out veggies and broth alike in a bowl, which is what I prefer.

I've added fresh cherry tomato, some green onion, and a little parsley, and served it up with some cornbread. These are also excellent with, baguette, noodles, or sourdough bread.

The bottom line is that collard greens can form the foundation for a variety of healthy, delicious meals, and they're not just for "soul food", as most people think. They delicious, cheap, and keep well in the fridge or freezer for quick meals throughout the week.