Collards

Botanical name: Brassica oleracea
Group: Acephala
Kale and collards are similar in many respects, differing in little more than the forms of their leaves. Although they share the same botanical name as kale collards have their own distinctive qualities. Like kale, collards are one of the non-head forming members of the Brassica family along with broccoli and cauliflower. The dark blue-green leaves that are smooth in texture and relatively broad distinguish them from the frilly edged leaves of kale.
Collards, usually used in plural, is a corruption of coleworts or colewyrts, Anglo-Saxon terms literally meaning cabbage plants. They have been in cultivation for so long, and have been so shifted about by prehistoric traders and migrating tribes, but are still much the same as they have been for two millennia. Thick-leaved, dense, and cabbage-like in flavor, collards are sturdier and stronger than most kales. Those who know both kale and collards usually consider the latter to have the better eating quality. All varieties of collards appear rather similar, but the kales show interesting diversity: tall and short; highly curled and plain leaved; blue-green, yellow-green, and red; erect and flat-growing; in various combinations and gradations of these characters.
Nutritional value: Nutrition experts in recent years have sought to popularize both collards and kale because they are unusually rich in the minerals and vitamins provided by green leafy foods. As members of the Brassica genus of foods, collards stand out as an anti-cancer food. It’s the organosulfur compounds in collards that have been the main subject of phytonutrient research, and these include the glucosinolates and the methyl cysteine sulfoxides. Although there are over 100 different glucosinolates in plants, only 10-15 are present in collards and other Brassicas. Yet these 10-15 glucosinolates appear able to lessen the occurrence of a wide variety of cancers, including breast and ovarian cancers. Collards have the same nutrients as kale, but in lesser concentration.

This food is low in Saturated Fat, and very low in Cholesterol. It is also a good source of Protein, Thiamin, Niacin and Potassium, and a very good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin E (Alpha Tocopherol), Vitamin K, Riboflavin, Vitamin B6, Folate, Calcium and Manganese.

Selection: Choose small, seep-colored bunches with leaves that feel cool and slightly damp. Avoid dried, browned, yellowed, or coarse-stemmed plants.

Storage: Keep collards very cold, or they may acquire a pronounced elderly cabbage taste. Wrap in ventilated plastic. Store for a shorter time than their sturdy look suggests. To avoid yellowing, keep kale far from climacteric fruits (ones which continue to ripen), such as apple, avocado, banana, peach, pear, plum, tomato and most tropical fruits.

Preparation: Small leaves can be left whole or sliced into ½-inch pieces. If collards are large, strip stems from leaves and discard; stack leaves and halve lengthwise, then cut into ½-inchstrips. Generally, most stems will soften if cooked more than 10 minutes.

Use: In parts of the South, collards are cooked pretty much the same way they have been since they were introduced: boiled until tender with some pork part. They can be cooked slow and long to yield a soft, mellow mass, or they can be simmered in broth for 15-30 minutes for a texture that is medium-firm, like sautéed cabbage. Thin-sliced leaves can be cooked very briefly for a greener flavor and chewier texture. Mix collards with softer leaves (spinach or curly mustard) for a more complex taste.