Day 78: Collard Greens

Collard Greens are maybe a kid's worst dream. Green (very green), potentially brown, they're mushy, they're  bitter, and did I say it before, oh, they're green. But I had these bad boys at a show in New Orleans and they were pretty damn good. Too brown for my likes, but that comes with the steam table I guess.

I usually prefer them, though cooked with something smoked and fatty, like bacon or ham hock.

On collard greens

Collard greens are various loose-leafed vegetables, from the same family as kale, spring greens, cabbage and broccoli. The plant is grown mainly in Brazil, Portugal, the southern United States, many parts of Africa, Montenegro, Spain and in India. The name "collard" is a shortened form of the word "colewort" (cabbage plant).


Collard greens are a staple vegetable of Southern U.S. cuisine. They are often prepared with other similar green leaf vegetables, such as kale, turnip greens, spinach, and mustard greens in "mixed greens". Typical seasonings when cooking collards can consist of smoked and salted meats (ham hocks, smoked turkey drumsticks, pork neckbones, fatback or other fatty meat).