COOKED FRESH COLLARD GREENS
Simply boiled till tender produces the best results for collard greens. Sweet, tender and delicious! This is the way cooked collard greens should look!
Serves 6
3 bunches fresh collard greens
Wash greens, removing any soiled leaves, then cut off stems flush with leaf. Cut out each stalk, running up into the center of each leaf, running a knife along each side of the vein.
Place whole collard green leaves, minus their stems/veins, in large pot of boiling water. Cook till tender but still whole and bright dark green. Lift with tong to colander and drain.
Notes: Many people are intimidated by collard greens. The first time I cooked them, decades ago, I didn’t know I was supposed to remove the main vein, and as a result they took hours to cook in order to soften the vein. Needless to say I didn’t try them again for quite some time. Nobody tells you how to cook them, unless you grew up in a household where Mom did the preparation and cooking. I eventually figured out on my own how to do it, and it really is quite simple once you remove the vein.
The darker green the leaves, the fresher the collard greens. Don’t buy greens that are yellow-tinged; they’re old greens.
Collard greens are sturdy greens and serve well as an accompaniment to nearly all dishes, pasta, potatoes, beans and rice, and are a perfect green to add to soups and casseroles.
Serve plain or toss with melted margarine and garlic. I often cook them up and eat them plain as a snack throughout the day.
You can salt the water you cook them in, or not. You decide.
CHEF DAVIES-TIGHT™ 