Meatless Monday – Collard Greens

Every southern knows you cannot have a holiday meal or get together without this awesome dish.  Collards are a leafy plant in the same family as cabbage and broccoli.  They are usually cooked with pork fat.  My grandma made them with something called “strick of lean, strick of fat” also known as pork belly.  Many people believe that you cannot cook a decent post of collard greens without the meat, however I can honestly say that these are the best collard greens I've ever had.

Here are your ingredients.

One half of a large white onion

Two bunches of collard greens

Water

Butter

Salt and Pepper to taste

Apple Cider Vinegar

Just a quick note:

The first thing I do is buy the collards on the day before I want to cook them.  That way they’re fresh and I have time to toss them in the freezer.  Collards can be bitter if you eat them before the first frost of the season.  Because many of our veggies are not being grown traditionally and most are in hot houses and so on, I like to toss my collard greens in the freezer.  This can be done overnight or even just for a few hours.  You’ll need to be careful here because the collard greens will get very brittle.  If you drop them on the floor you’ll be finding shattered collards around the kitchen for days.

Now on to the process…

Dice ½ of a white onion

Photo Credit - Renee Olson

Melt about 3 tablespoons of butter in a pot large enough for your collards

Photo Credit - Renee Olson

Add the onions to the pot and lightly sauté

Remove the collards from the freezer and break off the larger stems

Photo Credit - Renee Olson

Add to the pot

Add enough water to the pot to cover the collard greens

Allow to softly boil until tender

Photo Credit - Renee Olson

Drain off all the water; I literally squeeze the moisture out of them

Chop finely

Photo Credit - Renee Olson

At this point you can add salt and pepper to taste.  Some people add other things like hot sauce.  I add a capful of apple cider vinegar after I've plated mine. 

Photo Credit - Renee Olson

That’s all there is to it.  I've found that a sweet onion can be the vegetarians best friend.

What traditional “meated” food have you turned into vegetarian?  Love to hear your feedback!

Namaste and Blessed Be

Sosanna

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