1 bunch collard greens
an onion, or half of one depending on your mood
a few cloves garlic (0-4 depending on your preferences)
1 tsp - 1 Tbsp vinegar (optional), I prefer Dr. Fuhrman's spicy pecan
or lemon juice
pepper (optional)
red pepper flakes (optional)
red pepper flakes (optional)
minced ginger (say, 1 Tbsp, optional)
spoonful of date sugar (optional, if you are using lemon, may keep it from being too tart)
spices (optional)
Chop the onion, start boiling in water water to cover. Chop the garlic, add. Wash each collard green, remove stem, chop, add to pan. Add the red pepper flakes and spices. Add vinegar or lemon at some point (I'm actually not sure when. It's supposed to cut down on the bitter taste so that makes me think it should be early in the cooking process, but a lot of people don't add it until it's served on their plates, so I don't know--if you know, let me know).
spices (optional)
Chop the onion, start boiling in water water to cover. Chop the garlic, add. Wash each collard green, remove stem, chop, add to pan. Add the red pepper flakes and spices. Add vinegar or lemon at some point (I'm actually not sure when. It's supposed to cut down on the bitter taste so that makes me think it should be early in the cooking process, but a lot of people don't add it until it's served on their plates, so I don't know--if you know, let me know).
No need to add in all the optional things. These are just variations I've tried depending on what was or was not on hand. For example, once I didn't have garlic, but I had ginger. Once I used lemon juice and then thought it might need some date sugar (so I've only added date sugar once after making this hundreds of times). If you have leeks, try them instead of onions. or green onions. or ramps. if you have nothing but collard greens, they are probably going to taste great all by themselves, so go for it. Add some beets if you happen to have them. Or sweet potato (wait until the end to add them because they only take 5-10 minutes).
You might be wondering, isn't steaming healthier, since you wouldn't lose as much nutrients to the water? I like steamed kale but I prefer boiled collard greens. I use not too much water, say 1/2 cup, and add a little if necessary to it doesn't boil dry. As long as there's not too much liquid left at the end, you will ingest most of the nutrients. I cook it up for about 20-30 minutes.