Can I Cook Collards?

You didn't think I'd tell you right away, did you? The answer comes at the end of this spine-tingling post.

As I mentioned last time, I went gleaning this past weekend. The owner of T & K farms was quite friendly and let us take as many collards we wanted. So I left with about a pound of the dirty, purplish-green greens (but without a random, collard-pickin' toddler).

While searching around the web (unsuccessfully) for a photo of purplish collards, I found this story, which makes me happy to be alive. Also, there's a South Carolina rapper named Collardgreens. But I digress.

My next task was figuring out how to cook collards. As I do with most culinary questions, I turned to my pals from Moosewood. The Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home book had a "Spicy Kale" recipe that suggested substituting collards for kale and, more importantly, used ingredients I had. Bingo.

The recipe involved sauteeing the sliced greens with onions in a bit of vinegar and chili pepper flakes. Easy enough. I added a can of butter beans that I'd been trying to find a use for for about two months, served over rice (brown, of course) and called it dinner.

Now I like vegetables with some snap, but these greens were down right muscular. No wonder the prevailing wisdom on collards involves stewing for two to three weeks.

I kind of liked them. The Spoonstress, after politely trying the collards, ate everything but the greens. I can't say I blame her. There's your answer. (Hint: it rhymes with go.)