Collard Greens, the other vegetable

Collard Greens

I had never eaten a Collard Green. I had always just assumed they cooked up like some sort of elongated cousin of spinach. I have never been a cooked spinach fan (outside of a quiche that is, but add enough egg and cheese to anything and it makes it better). Throughout the years I have wandered through the market and pretended that these leafy greens were just shelf decoration, until one day when I felt the bravery well up in me and I decided to try something new. 

The best way to try new foods is fried....let’s face it everything is better fried. Batter dip and fry anything to look like a chicken nugget and it automatically becomes less scary.  However, fried really does not fit with the healthy image. The second best way to get people to eat food is to add bacon. Bacon goes with everything.  I added bacon and cheese and amazingly the result was delicious and not nearly as daunting as I had thought. Like spinach, Collards have that earthy taste to them, but it is oddly pleasant and I found it to be less sharp than Spinach. So be daring, give it a try, add bacon.

Ingredients-

1.     4 strips of thick cut bacon diced (i have also used lardons of salt pork if I am out of bacon)

2.     1/2 cup Feta cheese crumbles

3.     8 oz. Diced canned tomato

4.     1 tsps. garlic powder

5.     1 clove garlic, minced

6.     1 small onion diced

7.     Salt

8.     Pepper

9.     1 large bunch of collard Greens, Washed with ribs removed and cut into 2" ribbons

Directions-

Dice the bacon into small cubes.  In a large frying pan crisp the bacon cubes. At this point you have a choice to make...pour off the bacon fat/grease for a healthier meal (this is what I did) or keep all that piggy goodness and cook the remainder of the meal in it.  Reserve the bacon and over medium heat cook the onion until becomes translucent. Add in the minced garlic and continue to cook while stirring for about 2 minutes. Drain the diced canned tomato and add it to the onions and garlic and continue cooking on medium heat about 3 minutes. Add the greens and cover. It looks like it will not all fit in the pan, but it will, trust me. In about 5 minutes the collard greens will wilt down. At this point stir, sprinkle with some garlic powder, salt and pepper and leave them alone for a few minutes to stew in their own juices.  Taste, adjust and season as needed and after about 5-8 minutes turn off the heat, drain the juice and toss with the bacon and feta. Serve. (Goes GREAT with pork chops)