Collards!

I LOVE Collards!

I do.

And, really, they are so easy to cook when you know how.

Here’s my go-to method.

First, give them a rinse in your sink–this time I broke each large leaf into two parts with my hands–so they will fit into my pot of simmering water.

Put the leaves into the pot. You don’t want to cook them to death–like folks did when I was growing up. You just want to blanch them until they are limp. Don’t cook them longer than 5 minutes–and usually I simmer them less than 5 minutes.

Pour them into the sink and spray them with cold water to stop the cooking process and to keep them nice and green.

Cut out the central stem with a sharp knife. Or if you want to use the big leaves as a wrap, like a tortilla, leave the stems alone. They are chewy, but that’s doable. Some leaves are big enough for each side to be a wrap. Or you can overlap two sides to make a bigger wrap. You could leave the wrapped package whole or cut it into slices.

Discard the stems. In Maine they would have gone into my compost. Here I don’t compost as I will not have gardens big enough to use compost–and soon we will have a discussion on that ever fascinating creature the roach–and the terrifying South Carolina variant, the Palmetto Bug (which is a roach form).

Roughly chop the leaves. I leave mine in bigger chunks–not chopped fine. These are going to be sautéed in butter later tonight–for a dinner with grilled lamb chops, sprouted brown rice, and a sliced apple.

Collards have a sweet taste. Or so I think.

Anyway, they are chock full of nutrients.

You can just tear up rinsed leaves and add them to a soup, too. How easy is that?