Blazer Cookbook

Many people dislike collard greens for their bitter taste. Luckily cooking collard greens cuts down on their bitterness. Here are a few other ways to cut down on their bitter flavor:

There are a few tricks to make sure you select the highest quality collard greens. First, for the freshest flavor look for leaves with a firm texture that have not wilted. A deep green color free of blemishes or browning is best. Second, store them in a resealable plastic bag in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Third, make sure to clean them thoroughly. To do so you first must rinse them under running water. Then allow the collard greens to soak in water for about 10 minutes to loosen any dirt. Then rinse them again to remove whatever is remaining. Shake off the leaves and pat them dry with a towel.

Quality collard greens should be smooth and hearty in texture with broad, dark green leaves and light-colored veins and stems.² Avoid eating the stems, they are very tough and fibrous. You can cut the stems out or tear the leaves away from the stem to avoid this texture. Also avoid eating collard green leaves raw if you dislike the texture of raw lettuce or kale. Cooking the leaves will soften them and make it easier to chew.

If you don’t like the texture of collard greens cooked the traditional way but want all of their nutritional benefits there are plenty of ways to work around it. See a few examples below!¹⁶

Collard greens are a very versatile vegetable! A few different ways to cook it are:^{16 24}

• Added to salads and slaws
• Used as a wrap
• Sautéed
• Steamed
• Blanched
• Stewed
• Pureed
• Stir fried
• Braised
• Sliced or shredded
• Blended
• Added to casseroles

Collard greens can be added to a lot of different recipes to get the most out of their nutritional benefits!

Ingredients:

• 1 kg collard greens
• 300 g prosciutto dry pork ribs or other smoked dry meat
• 3-4 potatoes cubed
• 1 onion chopped
• 2 cloves garlic chopped
• 1 bouillon cubes
• 1-2 tsp paprika
• salt pepper

Instructions:

1. Cook dry meat in a pot of boiling water
2. Cut collard greens into larger ribbons, blanch in boiling water for about 3 minutes and drain
3. In a large saucepan, sauté onion. Add drained collard greens, chopped garlic, ​​potatoes, salt, pepper, dried sliced ​​cooked meats and the bouillon cube. Add some water left over from cooking dry meat. Cook until collard / rastika is tender

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Ingredients:

• 2 pounds collard greens (2 to 3 large bunches) stems removed
• 5 to 6 cloves garlic minced
• 1 onion diced
• 2 ham hocks meat removed and diced into small piece
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Wash the collard greens well and drain. Stack a few leaves at a time, then roll them tightly into a cigar. Thinly slice the leaves crosswise into thin shreds.
2. Heat the olive oil in a heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the ham hocks, onions, garlic and salt, cooking and stirring until the mixture is highly aromatic, about 4-5 minutes.
3. Add the greens, and sauté 3 or 4 minutes until they are bright green in color and starting to soften. Using tongues stir them as necessary to mix the greens well with the hocks, garlic and onions.
4. Season greens with more salt and pepper to taste, and serve immediately.

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Ingredients:

• 1 kg collard greens (usually 2 bunches)
• 3 tablespoons oil
• 1 onion
• 2 big tomatoes 
• Salt to taste

Instructions:

1. Wash the collard green leaves well. Then remove the thick, tough stems by stripping from the leaves. Slice the leaves thinly.
2. Peel and chop the onion. Wash and chop the tomatoes.
3. Heat the oil in a saucepan under medium heat. Add the onions and cook until they are starting to brown.
4. Add the tomatoes into the pan and cook until soft. Then add the collard greens. Stir for 3-5 mins.
5. Add some salt to taste, stir, then cover the pan and leave to steam for 5 mins.
6. Remove from heat and serve

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Ingredients (1 cup=220 ml):

• 1 kg/2.2 Lb Haak Saag/Collard Greens
• 1/4 Cup Mustard oil
• 1/8 tsp Asafoetida/hing
• 2 Green chilies
• Salt to taste
• 4 cup water 800 ml

Ingredients:

1. Wash haak saag very well
2. Separate the green leaves from the stems. Don’t chop the leaves as they are traditionally cooked leaving them big.
3. Take mustard oil in a wide pan/kadai and let oil smoke first.
4. The oil must have become extremely hot. Off the heat so that the temperature of oil comes down a bit. Otherwise what you are going to add next will burn immediately.
5. Add asafoetida and green chilies.
6. Now add haak saag, salt and water.
7. Let saag cook on moderate heat. Do note that don’t cover the pan/kadai with a lid.
8. Keep stirring at intervals. As there’s much water in pan, so you really don’t need to stir it quite often.
9. After 30-35 minutes, when the haak saag turns soft and tender enough to eat, off the heat.
10. Haak saag is ready.
11. Serve hot.

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