They weren't exactly what I was expecting. I expected tough and slightly bitter. The leaves were tender and they tasted a lot like kohlrabi. The word "collard" comes from the word "colewort" which means cabbage plant and collard greens are from the same family as kale and spring greens. They are generally eaten year-round in the South. Typical seasonings when cooking collards can consist of smoked and salted meats (ham hocks, smoked turkey drumsticks, pork neckbones, fatback or other fatty meat), diced onions, vinegar, salt, and black, white, or crushed red pepper, and some cooks add a small amount of sugar.
Traditionally, collards are eaten on New Year's Day, along with black-eyed peas or field peas and cornbread, to ensure wealth in the coming year, as the leaves resemble folding money. Cornbread is used to soak up the "pot liquor", a nutrient-rich collard broth. Collard greens may also be thinly sliced and fermented to make collard kraut, which is often cooked with flat dumplings.
But how to use collards in vegan cooking? I know they're greens, which are often sadly missing in my diet. I'm going to try them first in my superfoods soup. I think they might hold up well in the broth since they are somewhat like kale. But first, I'm going to adapt a recipe I found in Vegetarian Times for Collard Greens and Rice. And I'm going to try cooking it in my rice cooker!
Collard Greens and Brown Rice
1 cup vegetable broth
1/2 cup brown rice
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp Korean red pepper flakes
1 cups collard greens, rinsed and chopped
pepper, to taste
cayenne pepper (optional)
Maybe I'll add some red beans and a little chili powder. I'll let you know how it turns out.
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