Please welcome my friend Adam, aka Professor Vegetable. He has a fantastic blog and offers great ideas for veggie meals on a budget. A vegan that occasionally goes vegetarian (he’ll eat eggs once in a while), Adam also loves sign language. A geek at heart he’s also a sci-fi fan and into reading fantasy books. A lot of Adam’s recipes reflect the Asian food that he grew up with. Give him a follow on twitter and quiz his sci-fi knowledge @professorveg. 

I hope you enjoy his collard greens!

I’m participating in a sort of group blogging exercise for meatless Monday. The theme I was given: Soul Food. My first thought was collard greens. I’ve been cooking these things for years. I’ve always done them in a meatless way. I do not claim that my recipe for collard greens is traditional. Like, I said, I do them meatless and traditionally they’d be done with ham or ham fat and butter. Traditional or not, my recipe is good and I’m technically a southerner. I was born and raised in Virginia. Though when I say Virginia what I really mean is a suburb of DC in Northern Virginia and it’s not the most southern place but I do like to think that I know a thing or two about greens.

Collard Greens

What you need

• 1 lb collard greens
• a big, big pot
• a large skillet or saute pan
• water
• half a white onion
• 3 cloves garlic
• salt
• 3 tbs apple cider vinegar
• 2 tbs earth balance

How to get started

The list seems long but this recipe is very, very easy. I promise. Start by chopping the collards. Cut them widthwise not lengthwise. I mean, cut them however you want. Then dump them into a pot with salt, enough water to just cover them, and three tablespoons of apple cider vinegar. Cover and bring to a boil and then reduce heat to medium-low simmering for 15 minutes.

While it’s boiling chop the onion and garlic. Once it’s done boiling drain it. It’s okay if some moisture remains. Let the greens cool a bit.

How to finish it

In a large skillet, melt a tablespoon of earth balance and then saute the onions and garlic over medium heat until they start to brown. that should take about three minutes. Once they start browning add the collard greens and stir everything together well. Be sure to move the onions and garlic around so it’s not all on the bottom. Then add another tablespoon of earth balance and saute for another three to five minutes stirring often. Once it’s done and the heat is off I usually add a teaspoon of salt and stir it in.

Collard Greens for Meatless Monday

It’s done!!! Enjoy! I never promised it was healthy and I don’t want to count the calories in the earth balance. I do know this: it’s healthier and less cruel than the alternative with pig fat and butter.

What’s your favorite green or green colored vegetable? Do you like soul food? Do you like southern food? How do you feel about healthified versions of soul and southern cooking?

I love it. Have a super awesome week!!!