Collard Greens

Some of you may not think of collard greens as a culinary delight, but I love collard greens! I made a ham for Christmas and saved all of the tasty drippings from the bottom of the pan to use in this. I put the drippings in the refrigerator and then skimmed off the fat. What was left is the base for a stock. This could be on the salty side, so you may only want to use a few tablespoons. This is not a traditional collard green recipe. Many traditional recipes use ham hocks or bacon. I've also added diced turnips to this because I had some on hand and like the flavor of them.

• Ingredients
• 1 large bunch of collard greens
• 2 medium turnips
• 1/2 cup diced ham
• 1 large sweet onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2 dried red peppers (you could substitute red pepper flakes or omit if you don't like it spicy.)
• ham stock
• water
• salt and pepper to taste
• oil or butter for sauteing
• vinegar of your choice for garnish if desired (I like apple cider vinegar for this)
• a large pot or dutch oven. I used a 5 quart cast iron dutch oven.

First you need to clean the collards and take out the rib that runs down the center of them. I rinsed the the collards individually then soaked them in a sink full of cold water. I drained the water and refilled several times. If your collards are very sandy you will want to take care to wash the individual leaves very well before soaking.

Next, dice the onion. Saute the onion in a little bit of oil or butter until translucent. I added a little of the stock towards the end of sauting to add some flavor. Dice the turnips and add to the onions.  Dice the ham and add to the pot. Dice the garlic cloves and add. Add the hot peppers or pepper flakes. Add some more stock or water, and simmer on low while you cut up the collards.


You will have a huge pile of collards. It looks like they won't fit in the pot. They will. They shrink as they cook. to cut the collards stack about a dozen leaves together. Roll them into a tube shape then cut them with a sharp knife into strips. add the first bunch to the pot and stir it into the hot mixture. That helps shrink them for the next batch. Continue to stack, roll, and cut leaves adding them to the pot and stirring until all of them are in the pot. Add a couple of turns of fresh cracked pepper. Cook 2-3 hours until they reach the desired tenderness. I like mine very tender. After they are cooked you may need to adjust the salt and pepper to your taste. I add a dash of vinegar to mine after I dish them up. I love to serve them with a pan of cornbread. I also had some leftover homemade macaroni and cheese that went great with these.

collards right after I put them in the pot. Notice the bright green color.

After they cook they will turn a darker green color.

I hope you enjoy this recipe.