I cut off the stems, roll up the leaves, and cut them into thin strips. I've only made collard greens with cabbage as a side dish for jerk chicken (delicious!), but I don't really think the 40+ minute cooking time is necessary if you have the knife skills/motivation/whatever to cut them thin enough. I like mine with some kind of pork, a hot pepper or two, and a dash of vinegar. Beyond that, you can do pretty much anything to greens, and I'm still thrilled to be eating greens. I love collards, turnip greens, mustard greens, etc...I'll eat them just about any way I can get them.

Sauteed greens are yummy, but I really love greens in soup, too. I think they're light enough to work in a broth-y soup, but hearty enough to handle a chowder. Greens are wonderful.

When they're fresh from the garden, they don't even need boiling first. Just cut them up and saute. Deeelicious!

Laceyvail is right--fresh collards need very little cooking and can be treated like fresh spinach. I put a little bacon grease (here in Texas that is the very first thing you do no matter what you're cooking)in a large skillet with a lid, cram in as much freshly washed greens as I can, cover and saute for about 10 minutes on medium to medium-high heat. Sprinkle with a little salt and enjoy!

I agree, many times collards are overcooked. I grew a lot (too many) this summer and canned 25 pints of them, but we ate them all summer. That was in spite of the fact that Elery's Dad insists that collards shouldn't be eaten until after a frost, it makes them "sweeter". Um.....maybe, but I don't agree.

Mine were nice and tender and mild, I just cut the ribs/stems out of them and quickly sauteed them in a little bacon grease like marlingardener. Elery steamed some with a bit of chicken broth and some crushed red pepper and those were good too, and I made some "creamed spinach", using collards in place of the spinach.

It was all good, and we opened a jar of the canned greens a couple of days ago and ate them for dinner. Those were good too.

Annie

If you have a pressure cooker, try this really easy recipe from Lorna Sass's 'Cooking Under Pressure':

Collards with Bacon

1 bunch (1 to 1 1/2 lbs) collard greens
5 strips bacon, cut into 1" bits
2 to 3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 cup water
1 tbsp cider vinegar
salt to taste, if desired

Slice off the collard stalks about 4 inches from the root end and discard or set aside for stock. Cut the remaining part of the stalks and leaves into 3/4 inch slices. Rinse thoroughly in a sinkful of water. Drain and set aside.

Slowly fry the bacon until crisp in the cooker. Remove and set aside on a paper towel to drain. Saute the garlic in the remaining bacon fat for 30 seconds. Add the collard greens and toss to coat with the fat. Stir in the water.

Lock the lid in place and over high heat bring to high pressure. Adjust heat to maintain high pressure and cook for 5 minutes. Reduce pressure with a quick release method. Remove the lid, tilting it away from you to allow any excess steam to escape.

Drain collards and set in a bowl. Stir in the vinegar and crisped bacon, and add salt to taste.

NOTE: This recipe doesn't work in a cooker that requires more than 1 cup of liquid to come up to pressure.

Ever since I found this recipe, it's the only way I cook collards. Instead of the cider vinegar, though, I prefer pepper vinegar. And I don't mix it into the collards, I just use it as a condiment on the table to allow diners to put however much or however little vinegar they wish.

Lars, I love fresh collards so I will try your version.

I have been making Buster and Noel's cat food the last couple of months. I had some leftover collards and added it to the ground chicken I was making for them They LOVED it but I guess that makes sense given that they eat the rye grass I grow for them. Now I add unseasoned collards to their food.

Another greens lover here. They've always been one of my favorite foods.

Collards have a heavier, sturdier substance than most other greens. IMO, collards hold up well and benefit from long, slow Southern style cooking which gives them a nice, mellow flavor. But I continue to experiment and my opinion could change. I often use olive oil, which I always have on hand, in place of the the traditional pork fat, which I often don't, and the flavor is good. Pepper vinegar is my choice too.

Incidentally, some collards in my garden which restarted in the spring from overwintered plants were especially tender and tasty. So don't overdo your fall garden cleanup. :)

Jim

I stirfry mine. I destem them, and chiffonade. I thinly slice garlic, onions and the hottest peppers you can stand to eat. I use a mix of oil olive and chicken fat if I have it. Heat it in a wok, quickly fry the garlic, onions and peppers until soft. Add the collards, and lightly season with salt and pepper. It should take no more than five minutes on high heat. You want the leaves to be glossy green but not too wilted. Serve and top with pepper vinegar or a quick squeeze of lemon.

Good luck!

I love collards greens cooked with a ham hock and a big pan of cornbread. Growing up is the south, greens of any kind were on our plates. Mustard, collards or turnip all were used to feed us. All were cooked with a ham hock or two and cornbread. Try the pot liquor after the greens are cooked , over the cornbread.

Thanks for the responses - I'm going to try some of the cooking methods posted. I want to see how quickly I can cook them - they really had a good flavor when they were cooked quickly, and I think I still boiled them longer than necessary. Next time I will try sautéing them without boiling.

DB won't eat ham, and so that is out, unless I use turkey ham. Growing up, I frequently had turnip green and turnips because that's what the maid/cook grew in the vegetable patch that my father gave her. She never grew collard greens, but she did grow mustard greens, and I liked those as well. DF specially requested her to grow turnips, however, and he liked to have his greens with cornbread as well.

I'm not going to grow any greens in my yard because they take too much water, and they are cheap enough to buy. I'll look for more of them at the next farmers' market.

Lars