Any good recipe for southern style collard greens typically begins with a substantial amount of bacon or salt pork. While incredibly tasty, this traditional side dish leaves a lot of room for improvement with regards to healthy food choices. Collard greens, or any dark, leafy green are incredibly nutritious and quite easy to prepare.
In this recipe, browned mushrooms and onions do a nice job of replacing the richness of the bacon, while a dash of soy and balsamic vinegar provide a nice earthy flavor that compliment the greens perfectly.
Vegetarian Collard Greens Recipe
Ingredients:
- 2 bunches of collard greens (about 1/2 pound)
- 1 pint crimini mushrooms, brushed clean and sliced
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 tsp. olive oil
- 2 tsp. soy sauce
- 2 tsp. balsamic vinegar
- 1 T. red wine or cider vinegar
- hot sauce
- salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
- Trim greens of stems and discard. Place several collards flat on top of each other and roll lengthwise, forming a long roll of leaves. Slice the roll in 3/4" to 1" segments. Repeat for remaining leaves and rinse thoroughly.
- Heat olive oil at a medium-high heat in a large dutch oven until hot, but not smoking. Add mushrooms to hot oil and sprinkle with a pinch of salt. Saute mushrooms until they release their liquid and begin to brown, about 5-8 minutes. Add onions to browned mushrooms and sprinkle with another pinch of salt. Saute until onions are softened and starting to brown, another 5-8 minutes.
- At this point, the onion and mushroom mixture should begin to look brown and possibly sticking a little to the pan, but not burning. Deglaze the pan with the soy sauce and balsamic vinegar. Stir for a 1-2 minutes.
- Slowly stir in the sliced greens, letting the first handful wilt slightly before adding the next. Once you have added all of the greens, add fresh ground pepper to taste and lower heat to medium-low. Cover the dutch oven and cook the greens covered for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. When tender, but not mushy, stir in the red wine or cider vinegar and hot sauce to taste. Enjoy!
The vegetarian/vegan southern style collard greens are the best of both worlds and pairs well with any variety of main dishes. This recipe is also versatile and can be adapted to any type of hearty greens you may have on hand (or are in season) including mustard greens, chard, and turnip greens. Simply reduce the cooking time for more tender varieties, such as mustard greens and chard.
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