collard greens

[Guest guest]

I hope it is ok to ask this question, I apologise in advance if it is not.

 

I am trying to find kid-friendly recipes for collard greens. I was taught to

cook them or serve them raw with strong herbs and spices but my kids will not

eat them. I really want to incorporate them into their diet but have not been

very successful. If anyone could point the way to a site or book that has

simple recipes, it would be appreciated.

 

Thank you

Maria

[Guest guest]

Down in the south where collards grow (mine grow year round) we cook them.

Non-vegetarians down here (pretty much everyone but me) cook them with ham hock,

side meat, smoked turkey necks, stuff like that. When I read about people eating

them raw last year, I tried them when they were barely out of the ground and

they were still a lot tougher than I could handle and hurt my gut. I don't blame

the kidlings. Anyone not used to a totally raw diet might not be able to handle

the industrial strength thickness of collards. Spinach and kale, sure, but beet,

mustard and turnip greens only when they are microgreens. (For me, just give me

a bowl and fork and I'll mix up the dressing and go stand in the garden and

forage for lunch.)

 

In seed catalogs, collard greens are called delicate and sweet. My reaction has

always been the same: HUH? On what planet? Even cooked, they have a mild

bitterness. (on the bitterness scale from least to most: cabbage, beet greens,

spinach, collards, turnip greens, mustard greens)They get sweeter as they grow

through our mild winters, but not more tender. I've been cooking collard greens

for 50 plus years and eating them since I got off the bottle. (Milk bottle.)

 

Ya'll have my admiration for the teeth and stomachs that can handle collard

greens raw. For those who haven't had them, the leaf is thicker and tougher than

the outside leaves of your standard marketmore kind of cabbage. They're

wonderful cooked.

 

Try cooking them with a packet of Goya ham base seasoning. NO HAM is in it, but

there is a little MSG. I am very sensitive to MSG but the amount does not bother

me. Cook is the active verb here. Not a quickie steam; tear them into small

bits, cut or strip out the thick vein on the leaf and cover with water,

seasoning and a little black pepper. Bring them to a boil, cover and simmer for

about an hour. Yes, that wasn't a mis-print, an hour or until very tender. The

color won't be a bright green any longer.

 

Rather than tearing them, I go away from traditional Southern cooking and remove

the large vein, roll the leaf tightly, then slice thinly. It cooks faster and is

a lot more tender.

 

Doubt if this helps, but here you go anyway. Jeanne in GA

 

PS: One of our vegetarian Southern meals is this: Cooked collards, corn bread,

rice, black eye peas and corn cut off the cob. Nothing fancy. OH yes, and drink

the " pot likker " from the collards or sop it up with your corn bread or

biscuits. (real biscuits, not the things in a can.)

[Guest guest]

I saute collards, kale, chard the same way I do spinach, with some garlic

however since the leaves are tougher they take a little longer.

Add some salt while cooking, then pepper and some lemon juice. I usually

mix them with spinach leaves.

 

 

In a message dated 3/3/2010 2:23:09 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,

delpintoartworks writes:

 

 

 

 

I hope it is ok to ask this question, I apologise in advance if it is not.

 

I am trying to find kid-friendly recipes for collard greens. I was taught

to cook them or serve them raw with strong herbs and spices but my kids

will not eat them. I really want to incorporate them into their diet but have

not been very successful. If anyone could point the way to a site or book

that has simple recipes, it would be appreciated.

 

Thank you

Maria