What's so good about collard greens

My yearly visit to my ophthalmologist led to an interesting conversation about causes of macular degeneration in older folks. Thank goodness I do not have it, but she told me that so many times older folks who live alone or even with a spouse do not eat well, sometimes not everyday. The eyes suffer. She told me that the best thing one can eat for the eyes are collard greens. They are high in Lutein and one other eye vitamin I cannot remember how to pronounce. I had never cooked collard greens, a quick search on the INTERNET and I found a simple recipe that used lemon and EVOO. By the time I got done washing them, taking off the thick stem down the middle, cutting the leafs up into bite size pieces, steaming and then sautéing in olive oil, I'd had it with these greens. Not to mention that they were still a bit chewy and we did not like the taste. I'd like to grow them this winter in my garden and pick them when young. The leaves I got were very large with a tough stem. Is this typical? Are they better picked young?

You got to get some pork in there, smoked ham hocks.

Actually there is a really good recipe using smoked sausage and deglazing with Sauternes somewhere.

Steaming????? Please. This is SOUL FOOD. Have them with black eyed peas and a pig foot...

F

[Jenise]

My yearly visit to my ophthalmologist led to an interesting conversation about causes of macular degeneration in older folks. Thank goodness I do not have it, but she told me that so many times older folks who live alone or even with a spouse do not eat well, sometimes not everyday. The eyes suffer. She told me that the best thing one can eat for the eyes are collard greens. They are high in Lutein and one other eye vitamin I cannot remember how to pronounce. I had never cooked collard greens, a quick search on the INTERNET and I found a simple recipe that used lemon and EVOO. By the time I got done washing them, taking off the thick stem down the middle, cutting the leafs up into bite size pieces, steaming and then sautéing in olive oil, I'd had it with these greens. Not to mention that they were still a bit chewy and we did not like the taste. I'd like to grow them this winter in my garden and pick them when young. The leaves I got were very large with a tough stem. Is this typical? Are they better picked young?

Keep trying. I love collard greens (but then, I like all green food). Didn't grow up on them and didn't have them until I cooked them for myself, so it's not an acquired taste thing, but maybe it's all in how you prep them. I typically saute them on the stove top with a little olive oil and chicken broth. Maybe garlic, too. But I'm pretty happy with them just barely cooked. When I do a long cooked version (with ham hocks, like Frank suggests), I always reserve some of the fresh to add just before serving so one gets the mixture of both long and short flavors and textures.

I like collards. They are incredibly easy to prep, unlike other greens like spinach and rapini that take a lot of washing or destemming.

1. Collards do not need significant washing. They tend to resist bugs (and I buy organic), they don't get much dirt on them. Just agitate in a big bowl of water and remove to a collander or bowl.

2. One by one, draw the point of a sharp chef's knife along either edge of the stem and chop it off where it tapers to about 1/8 inch. When all the stems are removed, just stack the leaves and very coarsely chop into ~4 inch segments.

3. Put the chopped leaves into a large pot of boiling water, lightly salted, for about 4 minutes. Transfer blanched greens to the large bowl filled with cold tap water. Once the leaves cool down, drain them and lightly squeeze the water.

4. They are now ready to saute. I like to use duck fat, chopped onion, salt and pepper. Optional, add sliced garlic. The greens will finish cooking in 2-3 minutes. Adjust the S&P, maybe add a splash of red wine vinegar, cayenne pepper if you like it hot and spicy, and serve. You can also use EVOO instead of fat.

My 2 cents Karen, I think you pretty much have to grow up eating collard greens to "love" them and as you didn't, they are an 'acquired taste', most probably not acquirable.
And re macular degeneration, a supplement with the required goodies to prevent it or delay it, a much more efficient way to go.

Do you like other hardy greens like kale or mustard greens?

If not, then it may just be a category thing for you.

Otherwise, I enjoy collards as much as any other greens, and I never add meat.

When they are very fresh and high quality I like a quick sautee to preserve the flavor, although obviously other people (including my wife) prefer longer cooking to break them down further and present a softer dish.

[Robin Garr]

Not to mention that they were still a bit chewy and we did not like the taste.

Karen, this is just the way I feel about collards and most other "hardy" greens (although I LOVE spinach). I think maybe Rahsaan was right on target about it being a "category" thing. I didn't grow up eating that stuff, and as much as I'd like to acquire a taste for collards, kale, mustard greens, etc., to add more leafy greens to my diet, they just don't make my socks go up and down.

(Curiously, I've found turnip greens relatively palatable, particularly if you dice the turnip and cook the greens along with the starch and serve it all together.)

I'm with Rahsaan- they don't need a lot of prep, just a quick destemming and wash, then a fast sautee. IMO, they should be seasoned well, preferably with lots of garlic and a nice drizzle of a fruity olive oil at the end. A few toasted pine nuts make a nice garnish and add a bit to the texture. I know, it's sort of a bastard hybrid, a Southern ingredient cooked Italian style, but since this was not at all a food of my youth (they don't do collards in the Middle East or Russia), I come at it with no preconceptions.

But if you don't like 'em, well, you don't like 'em.

I'll put myself in with Jenise as someone who never had a collard green growing up but who likes them a lot now. I prefer them with a hefty hit of garlic or other seasonings. I've cooked them with sausage or Spanish chorizo and both work well. The duck fat that Bernard mentions sounds good, too.

Not to mention that they were still a bit chewy and we did not like the taste.

Karen, this is just the way I feel about collards and most other "hardy" greens (although I LOVE spinach). I think maybe Rahsaan was right on target about it being a "category" thing. I didn't grow up eating that stuff, and as much as I'd like to acquire a taste for collards, kale, mustard greens, etc., to add more leafy greens to my diet, they just don't make my socks go up and down.

(Curiously, I've found turnip greens relatively palatable, particularly if you dice the turnip and cook the greens along with the starch and serve it all together.)

Turnip and mustard greens were frequent dishes on my parents' table when I was young, and I grew to hate the very odor of them cooking so much that I have had neither in probably 30 years. Where I'm from, (no offense intended to anyone here, and I certainly don't mean it disparagingly) folks considered them to be something blacks and the poorest of poor white trash ate.

As for turnips, I'd be happy to never see or smell another as long as I live.

Much great cuisine has its origins in deprivation. No shame there, when you're poor, you get creative.

I'm with both Rahsaan and Stuart on the vegetarian treatment of collards, but I also do what Frank suggests re, the smoked sausage addition. I didn't grow up eating them either, but I love them.

Having said that, there aren't many foods I don't or won't eat.

I know, it's sort of a bastard hybrid, a Southern ingredient cooked Italian style, but since this was not at all a food of my youth (they don't do collards in the Middle East or Russia), I come at it with no preconceptions..

Sounds like perfect intuition to me. This was somewhat a food of my youth, in that it was typical among 'black Soul food' meals although we never actually ate that way at home. But the collards in those meals were either too meaty, too soft, or both, so when cooking for myself I have had similar olive oil/garlic preparations. Frankly, I don't see how they are that much different from chard (obviously the texture, time of cooking, but they're in the same basic family for me) and garlic, pinenuts, and olive oil are classics for that.

But for Karen, if they were still 'chewy' it sounds like they weren't cooked enough. Personally, I like them to retain some shape (and flavor!) and not get soggy, but they shouldn't be fibrous.

This may be obvious and forgive me if I am being too presumptuous, but uncooked collards (or any other green) can take up a lot of space in the pan and be difficult to cook through if you're not managing your space carefully?

This was somewhat a food of my youth, in that it was typical among 'black Soul food' meals

That's funny because I always thought of you as a New York Jew.

Curiously, I've never used them in soups, though I regularly use kale. Maybe a minestrone might be a way to convert someone who hasn't discovered the joys of collards. Hmm, I'm going produce shopping today, I think I'll pick some up and give it a whirl.

That's funny because I always thought of you as a New York Jew.

That was just my father and all my friends.. My mother's side had the collards..

Curiously, I've never used them in soups, though I regularly use kale. Maybe a minestrone might be a way to convert someone who hasn't discovered the joys of collards. Hmm, I'm going produce shopping today, I think I'll pick some up and give it a whirl.

Sounds good although a bit wintry for you lucky CA folks.

Here in blustery stormy London I also have soup on the menu for dinner. Basic soy sauce broth with Chinese radish noodles and adzuki sprouts and then zucchini latkes on the side. How's that for diverse. No wine, we'll be going to the pub afterwards for plenty of Real Ale.

[Robin Garr]

Much great cuisine has its origins in deprivation. No shame there, when you're poor, you get creative.

Cajun being just one of many great examples. Paul Prudhomme told me once (he said, shamelessly name-dropping), "If it moves, Cajuns will kill it and eat it." I guess they're not much into vegetarianism ...

No, they're not. It was difficult for me to find food there, but when we were in NO back in the day when K-Paul was the hot ticket (no pun intended), Prudhomme took good care of me. They way they said it was, "If it runs, walks, flies, swims, crawls, or creeps, we'll eat it."

Collard green lover here.

Grew up with them down South, and always loved them.

Don't eat them too much these days, but grab 'em when I can. BarBersQ in Napa has them as a side. They're not bad.

Turnips, now: hate the root, love the green.

And down South, mustard greens were our arugula. That and dandelion greens. Still love that precise bitter flavor in mustard greens.

One of the family traditions in our house when I was a child was to save the cooking water from the greens, which was a light, bright green color and (though we didn't really think about it, rich in all the vitamins) and have it heated up on a cold night, with johnnycake or corn bread crumbled up in it. Just veggie bouillon...but great veggie bouillon.

No, they're not. It was difficult for me to find food there, but when we were in NO back in the day when K-Paul was the hot ticket (no pun intended), Prudhomme took good care of me. They way they said it was, "If it runs, walks, flies, swims, crawls, or creeps, we'll eat it."

And wonderfully upfront about it too.

Last May when I was in NO, a couple of the places I ate in had sandwiches on their menu, labeled as "Pork Debris".

I knew what they meant, of course, but I engaged the waitress about it. She said, "Aw, honey, we Coon Asses don't like to see anything go to waste, and 'sides, most of the good flavor is in the little bits and pieces anyhow."

I cut a wide swath through the Shrimp Po'Boys in town when I was there. Now I hear the recent herricain has roiled up the shellfish in the Gulf and they're looking at shortages. Damn. They already have to import stuff from Texas!

Collard green lover here.

Grew up with them down South, and always loved them.

Don't eat them too much these days, but grab 'em when I can. BarBersQ in Napa has them as a side. They're not bad.

Turnips, now: hate the root, love the green.

And down South, mustard greens were our arugula. That and dandelion greens. Still love that precise bitter flavor in mustard greens.

One of the family traditions in our house when I was a child was to save the cooking water from the greens, which was a light, bright green color and (though we didn't really think about it, rich in all the vitamins) and have it heated up on a cold night, with johnnycake or corn bread crumbled up in it. Just veggie bouillon...but great veggie bouillon.

C'mon Hoke, surely you know that the cooking liquid is called "pot likker"?

Yep, that's what we called it, RR.

The black women in my classes told me that a pinch of sugar would make even a Yankee like collard greens.

The black women in my classes told me that a pinch of sugar would make even a Yankee like collard greens.

Not sugar, but I do add a dram or two of sweet wine.

Interesting, because I almost always use a bit of Marsala when I do chard. Haven't tried that with collards, must have been a blind spot.