been thinking about greens and then someone shared the “Lead Me to the Greens” song on Facebook and then i HAD to write something about tastiness of greens! now when i say greens maybe some people think i am talking about kale or chard or even some of them really country greens like salsify or fiddleheads or lambsquarters or dandelions -- the kind of greens that people used to gather in the wild because they didn't have anything else to eat and now they have been “discovered” by the modern foragers and the more adventurous foodie crowd.
nooooo. when most folks say “greens” they mean the holy trinity of soul food’s green leafy vegetables: collard, mustard, and turnip. i am not saying that all of those other things aren't any good. it’s just that “greens” pretty much means the same thing to most people.
and one of the best things to me about greens is that everyone (including me) cooks them differently and, mostly, however you cook them, they are delicious. some people like to cook them quickly, like until they are just done enough to eat. my son-in-law cooks greens like that and they are very tasty. my friend Momo cooks her greens a little longer - for a couple of hours. they are tender, but she doesn't like to cook them too much longer or they seem mushy to her. I, on the other hand, usually cook my greens like your great-grandmother cooked hers. that is, i cook my greens pretty much to death. probably the main difference between my greens and your grandma’s is that i don't have too much juice in the pot for mine. it turns into a trade-off: my greens don’t have a mushy texture, but there isn't much pot liquor to soak your cornbread in.
and you can season your greens with all kinds of things. i used to always cook greens with fat back or salt pork or ham hocks or smoked neckbones (my favorite). then more people started eating less swine and started cooking greens with smoked turkey. in my opinion, this works best when you don’t cook the greens for a long, long time. that’s because one of the reasons people started using cured and/or smoked pork with greens in the first place is because the meat holds its flavor, no matter how long it’s cooked. smoked poultry can’t hold up the same way so if you want to use smoked turkey then it’s better to cook the greens until they are just tender. or, if you like really well done greens but want to use the smoked turkey necks and legs, then i suggest you cook the meats first until they are nice and done and then take them out of the pan and use the juice to cook the greens and then put the meat back in at the end. it’s a little more work, but what i’m trying to say is that however you like your greens, you can always adapt.
and here’s another adaptation that can work if you cook the greens for a long time . . . don’t be mad when i say two words: frozen greens. now in the past i was a purist and went and got 20 bunches of greens for a big pot and sat and cut all of the hard stems out of the collards and rinsed everything and chopped it. and of course you are welcome to do that anytime. i think the main objection to frozen greens is that if you don’t cook them long enough you can tell the difference in the texture between frozen and fresh greens. plus frozen don’t have quite the same flavor because, after all, they have been frozen. but i wanted to try and make something palatable using frozen greens because they are convenient and always available and, if you have a restaurant supply store near you like Cash N Carry, they are pretty cheap, too.
so, since i was going to be cooking them for a really long time, i hauled out my faithful crockpot and started playing around with recipes for frozen greens.
and i found my inspiration in African cooking. now, if you think that is an unlikely source, then you need to study up on the history of greens. I guess collard greens originated in the eastern Mediterranean region - the Greeks and Romans ate greens. and from there they found their way south and became a staple of African cooking. And Africans brought them to the Americas. first on the slave ships - in North America, collards were one of the vegetables that slaves were allowed to grow for their personal consumption. they also became entrenched in Caribbean cooking during slavery time. and then in the last couple of decades, Ethiopian, Eritrean and Somali immigrants brought their recipes for cooking greens. Their versions are quite tasty and usually don’t involve the use of meat, so i tried to work out how to get a good flavor using just onions and garlic. so get out the crockpot with a really big bowl and get ready to cook some greens.
i like to use equal parts of collards and either mustard or turnip greens. these measurements are for two boxes of frozen greens or about five bunches of fresh.
1 large onion, chopped
1 whole paw of garlic, minced or put thru a garlic press
2 jalapenos, finely chopped
1 2-inch piece of fresh ginger, finely chopped
¼ cup cider or white vinegar
2 teaspoons Johnny’s seasoning salt
1 teaspoon granulated garlic (not garlic salt)
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
½ teaspoon black pepper
¼ cup water
If you are using frozen greens, then let them sit on the counter for a few hours and they will be easier to get out of the package. If using fresh, and you haven’t ever cooked greens before, you need to cut the thick stems out of the collards and wash the greens really well. i fill the sink with water (some people add some baking soda to the water) and soak the greens. then drain them really well and roughly chop them. all greens cook down a lot and fresh greens cook down a whole lot. if the greens won’t all fit into the pot, then stuff as many as you can in and put the lid on and then when they cook down add some more. see? that’s why i started using the frozen ones.
because i just put the thawed greens into the crockpot with ALL of the other ingredients, put the cover on, turn the temperature to “hi” and walk away for at least five-six hours. well, i do stir the greens a few times, but mostly i let them cook overnight on their own.
now the measurements are approximations and they also are light on the salt. you are gonna have to taste the greens after they have been cooking for an hour or so and then correct the seasoning. now, i like things to be tasty, so since this is a meatless recipe, this is when i start doing crazy things.
add two tablespoons of butter
yeah, butter. if you don’t eat dairy, you can skip this step. if you have ghee (clarified butter), you can use that. better yet, if you have niter kebbeh (Ethiopian spiced butter), use that (and, by the way, sometime i will show you how to make your own niter kebbeh which is a wonderful golden substance that tastes like it was made from the milk of some heavenly cow that ate nothing but spices).
the second addition again depends on whether or not you are vegan. but, whether you use the chicken flavor or a vegetarian option, i’m talking about seasoning powders, pastes and cubes. now i don’t actually use bouillon cubes. i go to the Asian store and buy Asian-style chicken broth powder, like Knorr. it isn’t as salty as american-style broth powder and a lot of the flavor comes from nutritional yeasts. i actually inherited some garlic cubes, which are okay but really salty but can work if you don’t eat any animal products. or you can actually add a tablespoon of nutritional yeast. and if you aren’t vegan and you want to get really adventurous, you can try stuff like shrimp paste (bagoong) or pho broth paste.
the main thing is . . . you don’t need very much. i would add only a teaspoon of chicken broth powder or a single vegetarian bouillon cube or a half-teaspoon of shrimp paste. you just want to add a little more depth of flavor.
then let everything cook until the greens are very, very tender. you shouldn’t have to add any liquid to the pot because the greens themselves give off a lot of juice.
now, hopefully, you are cooking the greens the day before you want to eat them because if you have time, you can let them cool completely and reheat for serving. like most dishes that are cooked for a long time, they taste a lot better the next day. but make sure you taste them just before serving and tweak the flavors. just make sure there is enough salt (but not too much). people have different tastes so i would let the eaters add more vinegar or hot sauce on their plates. plus some folks like to have all of their foods separate and some like to mix the greens with other things and let the juices swap around on the plate so they can be sopped up at the end. yum.
and if you want to know more about collard greens, visit the collard green museum’s webpage!
(i had some pictures but i lost them all. sorry!)
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