How to Clean and Cook Southern Greens
aka Collard Greens

How to Buy Them, Cut Them, Clean Them and Cook Them

This is a must ready article before throwing your southern greens into a pot.  Do you want to cook a healthy and tasty recipe for you friends and family?  Yes, I thought so. Get the results you want now by reading this information before you cook your collard greens.

Have you ever had or made collard greens that just didn't taste good? The recipe was followed exactly, to the "T".  What could possibly have gone wrong? If you want to produce a good southern greens meal, you have to do more than just follow recipes instructions.  

You have to go through the right preparation process before throwing those greens into your pot.  What process you ask? You have to buy quality greens, clean them off, and cut them properly.  No need to worry how to do this. It's all explained here.

What to Look for When Buying Collard Greens

You can buy your greens at the grocery store or farmers market, if you're not fortunate enough to have a garden or a friend who grows greens.  It's best, if you can get them straight from the garden.  However you can be selective and buy from your local store or farmer.

When buying greens, always pick bunches with quality leaves.  By being very selective you will avoid unnecessary work.  Here is what to look for in a good bunch of collard greens:

  •   Leaves Should Be Deep Green In Color
  •   Leaves Should Be Unwilted And Firm
  •   Leaves Should Not Show Signs Of Yellowing Or Browning

How to Clean Collard Greens

Clean your greens thoroughly before cooking them.  A good rinsing is always a must, since this vegetable tends to collect soil on its leaves and stems.  Before rinsing separate the leaves (with stem attached) from the roots.

Cleaned the leaves by dipped them several times into lukewarm water until all soil is removed.  The greens are clean when no dirt remains in the water. You can also rinse your leaves individually under running water to clean away the dirt.

How to Cut Collard Greens

Greens are tough therefore you will have to cut stems off some of the greens. For the large and mature leaves, take each leaf and fold lengthwise at the stem. Tear the tough portion of the stem away from the leaf and discharge.  If you like you can cut the stem away with a knife.

Next stack several leaves on top of each other and roll together.  Then using a cutting board and sharp knife, slice the leaves into 1 inch thick pieces.  That completes the cutting process.

Now that you have bought, cleaned and cut your southern greens, you're ready to follow your recipe for cooking collard greens. Let's cook some southern greens.