Craving Collard Greens

Prominately displayed in the produce section of my local grocery store are several ways to purchase collard greens. Small and large bunches of whole leaves, small and large bags of cut up leaves, even some prepared bags of greens. Every time I walk by them I think to myself, "I really need to try making those". A voice in my mind sings out, "eat your greens, eat your greens" and I think "I really need to eat more greens". Finally yesterday I was really craving collard greens so I bought a huge bag of already cut up collard greens. I also bought a package of no nitrate bacon. An idea of how to cook the collard greens was formulating in my mind. Vague thoughts of my grandmother cooking greens swirled in my head.

These are the only photos I took. Once I tasted these collard greens, I had plate after plate. I forgot all about showing the greens nicely displayed on a pottery plate. I think homemade cornbread would be good with the collard greens too. The cornbread could soak up the juices in the bottom of the pan. I remember my grandmother used to bake her cornbread in a cast iron frying pan and she'd cut pie shaped pieces for us to eat. Now if I can remember how I made these collard greens to tell you.

I finely chopped up one pound of bacon and one red onion and added them to a large stock pot. I cooked them on medium and added in two finely chopped cloves of garlic. When the bacon was cooked but not dry I added dried ground chipotle pepper, cumin, ginger, nutmeg, powdered bay leaves, salt, pepper, about 2 tablespoons of brown sugar and mixed that with the bacon and onion mixture. I don't measure the spices I just sprinkle them in. Next I added the collard greens and sprinkled them with some white vinegar. I kept the heat on medium and stirred them till they started to wilt, then kept adding more of the collard greens when they cooked down till I had added the whole package. I know the cooked collard greens look like a mushed up mess, but seriously these are so delicious. They taste almost pickled with the addition of the vinegar and spices. Proof these collard greens are good is, Gary liked them too. Just looking at the photo makes my hungry for more.

Besides being a quick and easy one dish meal to make, collard greens are really good for you. They're full of vitamin A, C, K, and calcium and one quarter pound is 46 calories. Of course with the bacon added the calories would be more. Also researchers have found an ingredient in collard greens initiates antiviral, antibacterial, and anticancer responses. Stay healthy and eat your collard greens. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.