How to Prepare Collard Greens

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By PaulF
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Southern style collard greens are one of the most simple yet tasty vegetables around. When cooked properly, this nutritious, down-home dish serves as the perfect complement to a full soul food spread or as a great stand-alone meal. If you want to know how to prepare collard greens that are so tender they'll melt in your mouth, then follow the steps below.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

1 6-quart pot
2 or 3 smoked turkey necks
5 lbs. of fresh collard greens
Cutting board
Large knife
2 tsp. of salt
2 tsp. of garlic powder
2 tsp. of black pepper
Stirring spoon
Large slow cooker

Step 1

Fill the pot with water about halfway and add the smoked turkey necks.
Step 2

Bring the water to a rolling boil and let the turkey necks cook like this for about half an hour or so until the meat is falling apart. It's important for the meat to be falling apart, so cook the turkey necks a little longer if necessary. Be sure the meat has cooked thoroughly as it will be the primary flavoring for the collard greens.
Step 3

Take the collard greens and tear apart each leaf. Rinse each leaf separately under cold running water.
Step 4

Stack five or more leaves on top of each other and roll them together as if you were rolling up a newspaper.
Step 5

Place the roll on a cutting board and slice the collards into thin strips with a large knife. Rolling the leaves together helps you to get them cut a lot more quickly, so feel free to roll together as many as your knife can handle.
Step 6

Add the greens to the pot of boiling water until the pot is full. As the greens wilt add a few more and repeat this process until all of the collard greens have been put into the pot.
Step 7

Stir in the salt, garlic powder and black pepper. Let the collard greens cook for half an hour on medium heat. Stir the pot every so often so the taste of the smoked meat can be spread evenly.
Step 8

Transfer some of the greens to your slow cooker. Once the cooker is nearly full, bring the water to a gentle boil. Reduce the heat to its lowest setting and let the greens cook in the slow cooker for about 8 to 10 hours. You can prepare collard greens well without the slow cooker, but this step helps make them so tender that they'll virtually melt in your mouth.