Collard greens.. Any good recipes w/o ham?

[RickF]

Hi all.. We've got one HUGE collard greens 'bush' that has tons of leaves that are ready to go.. We tried a recipe care of Paula Deen for Collard greens but my wife & kids aren't that enamored of the overwhelming ham flavor going on. Do any of you have any recipes that aren't loaded with ham hocks or similar and don't have that overwhelming ham flavor going on? Thanks!

 

[SweetMissDaisy]

I use them instead of tortilla shells, for 'wraps'.
You can wrap up most anything in them!

Either cut out or pound down the stem for easy rolling.

 

[vfem]

Oooh... I don't eat pork or beef... so I never add them to my recipes! I have done them with 'turkey' bacon before.

I also like a lot of garlic and onions with mine. Try caramelizing some onions and then heating the collards down into that. Use a dry ranch mix packet with a couple tablespoon of water and add right before you remove from heat.

I just though that sounded good, haven't made it like that yet. Now I will have to try it.

 

[Smiles Jr.]

I just can't imagine collards without the ham flavoring. It wouldn't be right.

 

[bjanet]

I have used smoked turkey wings for flavoring. I also sweat onion and chopped garlic with a little red pepper flake, then add broth (either vegatable or chicken) before adding the greens.

 

[elijahboy]

have never ever ever ever ever cooked collards WITHOUT neckbones.....thats the real way to cook them

but i always put vinegar in my collards....try adding about 1/4 cup of vinegar to each bunch atleast 1/2 hour before they are finished cooking and that might cut the ham flavor


i dont see why you cant cook them without meat....not sure how good they would taste


you could try taking like 1/4-1/2 pack of bacon and fry the bacon in the same pot you will use for the collards....but once the bacon is done just leave the pot as is and fill it half way with water and throw in the greens. dont remove the bacon or the grease before adding the water.

the only thing i have ever added to collards is either neckbones or bacon....when i did try ham or hamhocks the meat was tasteless because all the flavor went into the water...but neckbones really hold their flavor.


i think maybe turkey like mentioned upstairs would work....but i have never tried turkey in the collards as i always eat turkey wings as an addition to the plate..

a typical meal with collards greens would be

collard greens....with neckbones and vinegar
turkey wing cooked with bellpepper and onion
sweet cornbread with 2 cows worth of butter
yella/yellow rice cooked with some of the water from the neckbones before the collards and vinegar is added.

 

[RickF]

Thanks all.. I did find, after the fact, a recipe that used bacon instead of ham which I suspect would be OK.. I guess I could also just cut-down on the ham and try that for starters.. I just don't want to waste these huge leaves this lone plant gives off.. I've got probably a dozen leaves I could harvest today without the plant losing a beat. I'll see what I can fab-up and let you know how it goes over with the rest of the family.. Thanks again!

 

[elijahboy]

word of warning a small amount of collards will shrink down to NOTHING

Thanks all.. I did find, after the fact, a recipe that used bacon instead of ham which I suspect would be OK.. I guess I could also just cut-down on the ham and try that for starters.. I just don't want to waste these huge leaves this lone plant gives off.. I've got probably a dozen leaves I could harvest today without the plant losing a beat. I'll see what I can fab-up and let you know how it goes over with the rest of the family.. Thanks again!

 

[RickF]

I figured since they're like chard or spinach in that regard.. Hmm.. I might have to make some spinach salad -- got some of that ready to go too.. Yum!

 

[Greenthumb18]

I've cooked collard greens with bacon when I don't have ham hocks. I'm sure you could cook them without it and use onions like vfem mentioned and still taste great but missing that smoked flavor.

Hope this helps!