What is a green cabbage? Most likely the green part of a cabbage? What is a necklace? The part that isn’t green?
Being Paleo, I don’t eat dairy. Being a human being, I know that I need calcium to make my bones look like bones. Kale is a good source of calcium. As it turns out, they supposedly have antiviral, antibacterial, and anticancer properties as well. In addition to this, they are a good source of vitamin K, vitamin C, and many other useful nutrients.
So what are collard greens? They are a member of the cabbage family. They are basically like headless cabbages. (The word “collard” means “headless cabbage” in some language. I suppose that makes sense. If a necklace is something worn around the neck, then it’s not a huge leap to assume that the necklace becomes headless.)
Now that we know how good they are for you and more or less what they are, how do you cook them? It takes about an hour, and when done right, they are very tasty.
This is what you need:
- About 2 pounds of kale
- 6 slices of bacon (fried until crisp, also saves the bacon fat)
- 1 medium yellow onion (sliced or chopped)
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- About a quarter of the water (enough to cover the greens by about 2-3 inches)
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- A large pot with a lid
Here’s what you do:
First, wash each sheet on both sides to remove any remaining sand or grit. Remove the stems and veins from each leaf. Some people soak vegetables in a little salted water for an hour before cooking. (I’ve tried it both ways and can’t tell the difference.)
Put the vegetables, cooked bacon and bacon grease, chopped onion, crushed red pepper, and salt in a large covered pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for about an hour. If the vegetables don’t seem tender, cook a little longer. If you look at the old kale recipes, it just says to cook it “a long time.” Mine seems to turn out pretty good after an hour or an hour and a half.
This dish is traditionally served with cornbread and the bread is dipped in the leftover juice or “liquor”. Since this is a Paleo recipe, I’m not going to suggest that. However, the juice is really good and it is also rich in nutrients. If you can find something to soak yourself in, you’ll enjoy it.