Winter greens can be bitter but not when cooked this way. Perfectly complimentary flavors and belly filling warmness. If you’ve never tried collard greens before this recipe is more than worth the effort.
YIELD
4 servingsPREP
10 minCOOK
50 minREADY
60 minIngredients
or kale, mustard greens, stemmed, washed in 2 or 3 changes of clean water, and coarsely chopped *
dried, or large white beans, soaked until rehydrated, overnight at least 4 hours
Directions
Prepare the dried black eyed peas.
You can use canned if you wish but cooking your beans from scratch costs next to nothing and end up with better texture and flavor.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the bay leaf, garlic cloves, beans and salt. Bring back to the boil, reduce heat cover and simmer gently for about 30 minutes until the beans are done. Drain and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking.
Drain, reserve cooking liquid, and discard bay leaf and garlic. (Beans in liquid can be made in advance, cooled, covered, and refrigerated up to 5 days)
Blanch the collards.
In a saucepan bring 2 quarts of water to a boil. Add the salt and greens, cover and cook for 6 to 7 minutes.
Drain in a colander, rinse with cold water to stop the cooking and allow to drain thoroughly.
In a large non-stick skillet cook the bacon until crisp. Remove to drain on paper towels.
Discard all but two tablespoons of the bacon fat. If there’s not enough bacon fat left add enough vegetable oil to make about two tablespoons.
Heat the skillet over medium-high heat.
Add the onions and garlic and cook until the onion is becoming translucent.
Add the greens and toss to coat with the bacon fat. Add the stock, cover and simmer for 4 or 5 minutes until the liquid has been absorbed. Add some of the cooking liquid from the beans if the green dry out too quickly.
Add the black eyed peas (or other beans) and toss until heated through.
Add the vinegar and toss. Taste and adjust seasonings if needed.
Serve warm topped with the crispy bacon.
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