Collard Greens!?

Here is another reason why I love belonging to the Bountiful Baskets Co-op: it forces me to find recipes with ingredients I wouldn't normally purchase--like collard greens. I remember my mom making collard greens once when I was a kid. She was from Texas and so fried them with butter--yuck!

So this past Saturday guess what was in my basket? Collard greens. I knew my sister Lori wouldn't want them so I said I would keep them and try to find a good recipe. Love the Internet! I just used GoodSearch dutifully entering Southwest Shakespeare as the designated charity (see Leslie for further information) and found this recipe from Epicurious. It was really good. And believe me, it is not easy to find a healthy recipe using collard greens. Because it is such a southern food it is usually fried or sauteed in butter--lots of butter.

The original recipe called for ham but I made it with some pork my friend Jana bottled for me. And I added 3 cloves of garlic instead of 1 clove and added an extra cup of chicken broth. I would definitely make this again.

Ham and Black-Eyed Pea Soup with Collard Greens
1 medium onion
1 garlic clove (I used 3 cloves)
a 4-ounce piece cooked ham
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 pound collard greens
1 cup chicken broth (8 fluid ounces) (I used a whole 15 oz. can)
3 cups water (I used 2 cups of water)
a 16-ounce can black-eyed peas (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 teaspoon cider vinegar

Chop onion and garlic and cut ham into 1/4-inch dice. In a 3-quart saucepan cook onion, garlic, and ham in oil over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until onion is pale golden.
While onion mixture is cooking, discard stems and center ribs from collards and finely chop leaves. Add collards, broth, and water to onion mixture and simmer until collards are tender, about 20 minutes.
Rinse and drain black-eyed peas. In a bowl mash half of peas with a fork. Stir mashed and whole peas into soup and simmer 5 minutes. Season soup with salt and pepper and stir in vinegar.