“How did the collard cooking go?” I asked daughter Elizabeth, who had gone down to the Lowcountry to visit her friend’s family over the recent holidays. She had carried a large bag of collards as her contribution to the holiday feast.
“Fine,” she answered. “It was a group effort.”
I bet it was.
Our Elizabeth, in her 30s, is hard-working, enthusiastic and energetic. She owns and operates a successful business and is involved in her town’s activities.
She had never cooked a collard in her life.
They had stopped at a grocery store to buy a piece of salt pork. Another new experience for someone who is the size of a Coke bottle and doesn’t eat a lot of salt pork.
Her twin sister Catherine and husband Mark had carried collards to her in-laws’ meal. We also had collards here with our son Tom, his wife Angie and their family. I don’t think Gaye and Joel carried collards on the plane for his family gathering in San Diego, and Lee and Ron didn’t take collards to his family in Virginia.
We’re a collard family, which is why we are so healthy, and I want to talk some more about collards.
They are one of the healthiest vegetables growing above ground. The collard, a cruciferous vegetable, is a green, leafy plant which has a lot of good stuff for you. A one-cup serving provides the following of your daily requirements: 118 percent of vitamin A, 57 percent of vitamin C, 20 percent of calcium, 15 percent of potassium, 50 percent of vitamin K, etc. They are credited with having cancer-fighting qualities and cholesterol-lowering abilities, and they help prevent age-related cataracts.
Collards are low-calorie, which makes them a good choice for diners watching their weight – unless you have cooked them with a lot of salt pork, fat back, bacon, ham hock, or other pork products almost always used for “seasoning” here in our wonderful South. They may need a little salt – “little” being the key word here.
If you are an Internet user, look up collards and you will be amazed at all the good things collards can do for you.
If you can find them, buy fresh collards from a local grower or farmer’s market. The collards at both places were probably picked the same day or perhaps the previous day. They stay fresh in a refrigerator or on a cool porch for four days or so.
If you cook them uncovered, they will keep a green color better than if covered. Your home economics teacher in high school probably told you to cook them covered.
Collards, the official vegetable of South Carolina, go back a long time. It is said that Julius Caesar ate collards. I can’t verify that, but it is recommended that collards, or their leafy cousins, be eaten three or four times a week.
Collards can be cooked one day, refrigerated, and then be just as tasty served the following day – plain or with vinegar, a vinegar and chopped onion mix, hot pepper, or other condiments. So start eating collards for a healthy you. In fact, you should probably have them this week for … Sunday Dinner.
Collards
Collards, as many as needed*
4-inch square of salt pork, washed and cut into cubes
Salt to taste
In a large pot, place the salt pork and add water just to cover. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium and cook while preparing collards.
Remove stems from the collard leaves. Leave the leaves in large pieces or cut into small, bite-sized pieces.
Wash collards through three changes of water. Adding salt to the water will help remove any little critters (unlikely to be there in cool weather). Add the rinsed collards to the pot with the salt pork, cover, bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium and cook about an hour, stirring occasionally. When collards are tender, use two knives to cut the leaves criss-cross in the pot if they were not torn into small pieces before cooking. Serve hot.
*One large plant with stems removed will serve 4-6 people.