With the dawn of every new year, there are some constants: fireworks, midnight kisses, watching the ball drop and heaps of collard greens. What? You don’t look forward to New Years Day JUST so that you can pile your plate with greens and eat them until you pass out?? Okay, so I guess that’s just me. Down South, we have a tradition: New Years Day= pork, blackeyed peas and collard greens. The blackeyed peas are supposed to represent luck and the greens represent money for your new year. The pork just represents pork being tasty. I look forward to this meal every year, even though it takes a bazillion hours to make because it’s amazing. I didn’t make it myself last year since I was on bed rest, but my mom did make it for me. Yay for moms!

Since it has come to my attention that there are a lot of people out there who think that they don’t like collard greens, I thought it would be fun to teach one and all how to make awesome Southern greens. I promise, if you think you don’t like them, you just haven’t eaten them cooked the RIGHT way. A lot of restaurants around here serve them, and, well, they’re not so good. It’s because they’re too bitter- they don’t know the secret: getting rid of the stalk and parboiling. My dad makes the best freaking collard greens on the planet, and he taught me how to do them, just like his mom taught him. And they’re darn good, y’all.

Southern Style Collard Greens

Collard greens are one of my favorite soul food side dishes.  This is an easy but time consuming recipe, but it’s definitely worth the trouble.  Enjoy!

Prep Time 10 Minutes

Cook Time 1 Hour 31 Minutes

Total Time 1 Hour 41 Minutes

Servings 12 servings

Calories 141kcal

Ingredients

• 4 lbs collard greens cleaned and cut
• 1 lb bacon ends chopped
• 1 large onion diced
• 6 cups chicken broth
• 2 cups water
• 1 tsp seasoning salt
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1 large jalapeno pepper sliced
• 2-3 tbsp of white distilled vinegar

Instructions

1. Place the bacon ends in a pot, and place the pot over medium heat.
2. Brown the bacon then add in the diced onions, and cook until the onions start to sweat.
3. Add in the minced garlic,then cook for 1 minutes.
4. Pour in the chicken broth, and turn the heat up to high and let boil for 20 minutes.
5. Pour in the 2 cups of water, and turn the heat down to medium.
6. Start adding in the collard greens into the pot.
7. Once all of the greens are in the pot, sprinkle in the seasoning salt and ground black pepper.
8. Add in the sliced jalapeno, and the vinegar and stir the ingredients.
9. Cover the pot, and let simmer for 1 hour and 10 minutes over medium heat. Be sure to peak in and stir periodically.
10. Enjoy!