Collard Greens, Brazillian Style

Sunday is a day to rest and indulge myself, sleep until 7, have a leisurely breakfast, and visit the local farm stand. Walking past the fresh fruits, I find some radiant green collard greens, so fresh you can smell their slightly bitter aroma. One bunch made it into my basket.

Once home, I’ll take the ribs out of these, roll them, and chiffonade them into thin strands. From there, they will be washed/rinsed several times, as collard greens, any green, are dirt magnets, and biting into grit is not a pleasant experience.

The back story: Long ago, a director for a cancer-related not-for-profit came to me for assistance, and as usual, my price was “a beer and a burger.” He promised me it would be much better than that. I resolved his issue and forgot about the incident.

Fast forward two weeks, and he calls telling me to meet him at his loft downtown, basically two blocks from the World Trade Center. I arrived and was presented with a cocktail while his lovely wife completed a glorious meal of cornbread, a bean stew, and these superb collard greens. He was true to his word, much better than a beer and a burger.

As per Wikipedia:

In Portuguese and Brazilian cuisine, collard greens (or couve) are a common accompaniment to fish and meat dishes. They make up a standard side dish for feijoada, a popular pork and beans-style stew. These Brazilian and Portuguese cultivars are likely members of a distinct non-heading cultivar group of Brassica oleracea, specifically the Tronchuda Group.

Thinly-sliced collard greens are also a main ingredient of a popular Portuguese soup, the caldo verde (“green broth”). For this broth, the leaves are sliced into strips, 2–3 millimetres (1⁄16–1⁄8 inch) wide (sometimes by a grocer or market vendor using a special hand-cranked slicer) and added to the other ingredients 15 minutes before it is served.

Brazillian Collard Greens

I love garden greens, whether they be turnip greens, mustard green

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 25 minutes mins

Course Side Dish

Cuisine Brazilian

Servings 2 people

Calories 176 kcal

Equipment

• 1 Salad Spinner

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 10 oz Collard Greens Approx 1 bunch
• 2 tbsp EVOO
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 3 cloves Garlic Peeled, minced
• 1 pinch Chili Flake
• 2 ea Lemons Wedged for serving

Instructions

 

Prepeare the Greens

• Cut out the thick center rib out of each collard green.
• Stack the rib-less greens and roll them up into a cigar-like shape
• Slice over the “cigar” as thinly as possible (⅛″ to ¼″) to make long strands.
• Wash the strands in a sink full of cold water, repeating at least twice
• Dry the strands in a salad spinner, or spread them out on a kitchen towel
• Heat a large, heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat, then add the olive oil.
• Once the oil is shimmering, add all the collard greens and the salt.
• Stir until all the greens are lightly coated in oil, then let them cook for about 30 seconds before stirring again.
• Continue stirring until the greens are wilted, dark green, and some start to turning brown on the edges (this is delicious). This will take between 3 to 6 minutes.
• add the garlic and red pepper flakes (if using).
• Stir to break up the garlic and cook until it’s fragrant about 30 seconds.
• Serve with a wedge of lemon.

Notes

Note, as written, that this is a vegetarian-compliant dish.

If one rendered out six slices of good bacon in the pan and forwent the EVOO…

Nutrition

Calories: 176kcalCarbohydrates: 9gProtein: 5gFat: 15gSaturated Fat: 2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 10gSodium: 317mgPotassium: 323mgFiber: 6gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 7130IUVitamin C: 52mgCalcium: 338mgIron: 1mg

Keyword Chop, Fried, Green, Vegetable

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