Boiled Collard Greens

Ingredients

• 2–3 lbs (900–1300 g) collard greens
• 2 tablespoons pork fat or some type of oil (optional)
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 2–3 teaspoons sugar (optional)
• 1.5–2 lbs (700–900 g) smoked pork neck bone (optional, or, may substitute a much smaller amount of sausage)
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper (powder or flakes; optional)
• ¼ cup (60 ml) vinegar (optional)
• 1 medium onion (optional), diced, chopped, or sliced

Steps

1. Thoroughly wash the collard greens with very slightly soapy water, and rinse clean with plain water. Rinse at least twice to ensure removal of all grit and soap.
2. Leaves may be stripped from stems or left on if preferred. If left on, cut stems in small length (under 1 inch / 2.5 cm) for ease.
3. Chop leaves into bite-sized pieces. They may be folded lengthwise or widthwise to facilitate this.
4. Place chopped leaves into pot of boiling water—use just enough water to keep the greens off of the bottom of the pot; or else your greens will be watery and will have no flavor. Leaves will reduce in size while cooking, though not significantly. Depending on the size of the pot in which they're cooked, it may be necessary to cook some, then add more leaves after a brief time.
5. Add remaining ingredients.
6. Boil for approximately 20 minutes or until they reach desired tenderness. If overcooked, their taste will not be affected, but they'll be mushy.

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Adapted from “Boiled Collard Greens” in the Wikibooks Cookbook by its contributors, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Reformatted for this site; this page's recipe text is shared under the same license.