Braised Collard Greens

I am always scouring for new recipes. I do not want to be in my 70's and be cooking meatloaf on Monday, Fried Chicken on Tuesday, Liver and Onions on Wednesday....you got my meaning. So search I do.

Well, I love this new cable network, Planet Green. And just recently, Emeril Lagasse was added to the line-up. He is working hand-in-hand with Whole Foods to teach folks how to get over some of their coking hurdles. These people know how to cook, just need some fine tuning.

Well, just recently, he did an episode about fish stew, but that was not what caught my eye, it was the collard green dish. Now, you have to remember, I am from the south, so any dish I can vegize(I made that up) is fine and dandy in my book, plus, my daughter loves collards, so that is a plus.

So I take no credit for this dish and thank you Planet Green, and Mr. BAM!

2T olive oil
1/2 t crushed red pepper
1&1/2T thinly sliced garlic
2bunches collard greens, Swiss chard, or kale(We used collards)**
1cup vegetable stock(see why I liked this one?)
1t salt
1/4 t cayenne pepper(this was plenty)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In a large skillet over medium heat, add the olive oil. After 10-15 seconds add the crushed red pepper, garlic, and cook until fragrant, 30-45 second. Add the greens, in batches, stirring between additions until the greens wilt slightly. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add the stock, salt and cayenne and cover, continuing to cook until greens are just tender. 4-5 minutes longer.

**I have always just ripped the stem away from my collards. But after watching this episode, I found out there is another way, which let my leaves be better prepared for slicing. I ran my knife along each side of the stem and cut or pulled the stem off the leaf (I cut at least 3/4 of the stem away).

Then I folded the leaf in half and stacked them as I went. Once I was done, I took a handful of leaves and rolled them like a cigar, then took my new Rachael Ray knife and cut the leaves into slivers, producing beautiful shredded collards. I also did this on dirty leaves and rinsed them afterwards. I to the same thing with my curly parsley when I am making Tabbouleh.(I learned this from Arabic women...I think they know best)

And the rest as they say is history. These collards were different from my norm, but they will be on our menu again...trust me on this!