Collard greens, a Southern favorite, are going strong in the frozen north, being a tough cool weather crop. Don't ignore them. These may top the nutrient crop of all the cruciferous greens. They beat all in lowering cholesterol and do a very impressive job of keeping cancer at bay. Plus they're really tasty. So grab a bunch.
You'll have to strip the leaves from the tough stems and chop them coarsely. After that, you can do simple, yummy things. Easiest is to boil those chopped greens in heavily salted water for 15 minutes, then drain them well. Heat olive oil and a touch of butter in a large skillet, toss in the greens and three cloves of minced garlic. Saute 5 minutes over medium to medium low heat. Season heavily with fresh black pepper and salt and serve. This preparation is great with saucy meat, especially barbeque sauce.
Another equally simple option is to boil the greens 20-30 not with salt in the water but a ham hock or piece of smoked ham. Drain. Shred any ham meat. Then saute the collards and ham in olive or corn oil for 5 minutes. Season with fresh pepper and serve. This is seriously good with fried chicken.
I've seen recipes where people boil the greens and then saute them with soy sauce and sesame oil.
For a quick, colorful and seriously nutritious dish, I've chopped the greens more finely and boiled them 15 minutes. While they are draining, In a large deep skillet, I sauté in half butter half olive oil one diced onion and two minced garlic cloves until the onion is soft. I add a chopped tomato, sprinkle in red pepper flakes and stir in 1/4 tsp ground chipotle chili plus 1/2 tsp dried oregano leaves. I put the greens in the skillet along with a 13 oz can of cooked black-eyed peas with their juice and cook over medium heat 5-10 minutes. Seasoned with fresh black pepper and about 1 tsp of salt, this is comforting food. Try it with a pork roast.
Just don't walk away from those bunches of flat leaf collard greens now at winter markets.
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