A Different Approach to Collards
October 5th, 2011 · 5 Comments · Posted in Recipes
For years we’ve been making our collards the old-fashioned way: boiling them to death. But lately my wife expressed concerns that we were leaching all the nutrient goodness out of our greens. Could we prepare them a better way?
This week I picked up a bunch of large-leafed collards at the farmers market and tried steaming them. After cleaning the collards, remove the stems and chop the leaves roughly. Then place the leaves in a steaming basket set in a large, heavy pot, such as a Dutch oven. Steam until the greens are just tender, about 45 minutes.
Meanwhile, slice a medium onion and saute until soft with some bacon grease in your cast-iron skillet. Add the steamed greens, a sliced apple, dried cranberries and a splash of apple cider vinegar. Season with salt and cook gently, covered, until the apples and cranberries are soft.
I served these collards next to fillets of Alasakan sockeye salmon dressed with our famous green herb sauce. These greens are something to crow about. And we can feel good about not leaching all the nutrients out of them. Try them seasoned with any one of your other flavored vinegars.
Ivana Kadija // Oct 6, 2011 at 10:14 am
Love bacon-y greens cuz they are delicious! But I’m not sure what I’m getting from them nutritionally, even though I hardly ever blanch hearty greens (collards, kale, etc.) for more than 5 min before straining and sauteeing in garlicky bacon fat. I’ve always operated off the principal that cooked is better than not AND served with fat the best way to increase bioavailability of nutrients. However, numerous vitamins are susceptible to air exposure, never mind heat (C for example) so I do wonder what the heck (other than softened fiber and carbohydrate) we get out of a veggie that’s been boiled or steamed even for 5 minutes, never mind for 45! Ever searching…
Ed Bruske // Oct 6, 2011 at 10:32 am
Ivana, I’m not sure I want to know, exactly. It might spoil dinner.
Blogzilla // Nov 25, 2014 at 1:54 am
Ivana, you’re getting the same or similar nutritional powerhouse goodness from collard greens, if you don’t over cook them, that you get from kale. I’m not so sure the bacon grease is a good idea. Use coconut oil instead.
loisnolen // Oct 15, 2015 at 2:22 pm
How can I order the spicy pickled okra from you. Its hard to find here and I love it Thank you
Julie Brennan // Dec 5, 2023 at 12:40 pm
Great idea on the collards! I’m glad your Mrs was looking for a better way! I got a bunch of free plants from a local nursery in July… That is the best time to plant collards because they really grow in September and October! So I’m going to try your recipe… Sounds great with the cranberries!
I have also heard that you can use collards as a substitute for cabbage leaves and making Golbaki/stuffed cabbage. I’m going to try that also along with your recipe.
I stumbled upon your site looking for pickled green tomatoes, so I’m getting ready to make that… But reading through the comments, I saw you have a Green tomato-Apple chutney… I’m now starting to search for that recipe! Thanks for your fun site!