Friday, April 3, 2015

C is for Collards

CollardsCollards is considered such a southern vegetable but to me it is  very much like the Spring Greens my mother used to cook when I was a child. Apparently the name collard is a corruption of the original name colewort. From the list given by Wiki, it appears they grow mostly in warmer climates. One can buy them in the stores elsewhere but then that basically applies to most foods these days. In the south they tend to cook them for an extremely long time and to add ham hocks whilst cooking them. For my personal taste I prefer to cook them a different way, either with olive oil and lots of garlic or with a tomato based sauce also containing garlic mind you.

Here is a famous Portuguese soup which includes a pork sausage. My impression is that this linguica is interchangeable with chorizo. We can certainly buy chorizo around here. Kale can be used for this soup as well as collards.

Caldo Verde (Portuguese Green Soup)

 
"This soup is a Portuguese favorite of mine. It is a creamy soup with the wonderful use of kale, giving it the green soup look. Enjoy it with a thick slice from your Caldo Verdefavorite loaf of bread!".
Ingredients
recipe makes 6 servings
 
  • 4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
  • 1 onion, minced
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 6 potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
  • 2 quarts cold water
  • 6 ounces linguica sausage, thinly sliced
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • ground black pepper to taste
  • 1 pound collards, rinsed and julienned
 
Directions
  1. In a large saucepan over medium heat, cook onion and garlic in 3 tablespoons olive oil for 3 minutes. Stir in potatoes and cook, stirring constantly, 3 minutes more. Pour in water, bring to a boil, and let boil gently for 20 minutes, until potatoes are mushy.
  2. Meanwhile, in a large skillet over medium-low heat, cook sausage until it has released most of its fat, 10 minutes. Drain.
  3. Mash potatoes or puree the potato mixture with a blender or food processor. Stir the sausage, salt and pepper into the soup and return to medium heat. Cover and simmer 5 minutes.
  4. Just before serving, stir kale into soup and simmer, 5 minutes, until kale is tender and jade green. Stir in the remaining tablespoon of olive oil and serve at once.
Have a great day
Jo

46 comments:

  1. My grandma would cook collard greens in bacon grease. I was never a fan. Hate bacon grease. So gross.

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    1. Try them this way Liz, delicious, or just cook them until edible (not paste) and then toss them in garlic and olive oil. Delicious.

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  2. Not for me - I struggle with sprouts!

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    1. I used to love sprouts but I have gone off them lately. I still love collards cooked and then tossed in olive oil and garlic, or tomato paste and garlic.

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  3. Hi Jo- I love collards and kale ... and the Portuguese soup would be so good - either with the rich Portuguese sausage, or with Chorizo .. cheers Hilary

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    1. You are so right Hilary.Never heard of linguica but can certainly get chorizo.

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  4. Not a fan of collard green and I absolutely hate kale in any form.

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    1. I eat kale in my smoothie. Sometimes in soups. Mostly baby kale though.

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    1. Bet you could do them this way or the way I cook them. You live in the wrong part of the world, don't like the way they are cooked in your neck of the woods.

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  6. I've never had collards. I'm not even sure I noticed them in my grocery store but I confess I've never looked. I make a Portuguese kale soup though, and I use turkey chourico. It's less spicy.

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    1. We get them here JoJo. Kale is delicious for a soup too. Never heard of turkey chourico (chorizo) not sure if we can get it here.

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  7. I'm married to a southern boy, and definitely think of collards as more of a southern food. I did have some really delicious collards in Maryland a couple of weeks ago, they were spicy which was different. I'm your neighbor in the A-Z -#72, also a Jo : )

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    1. Hi neighbour, my Jo is for Josephine. I always thought southerners didn't get the best benefit from collards.

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  8. My favorite of the greens. Thanks for sharing this recipe and a bit of history you've collected on collards.

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    1. I love collards too, most greens really.

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  9. Love collards, but didn't know the original name. Thanks for the. And thanks for the recipe. I'm salivating already.

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    1. Me too Dixie. Jaques Pepin has a wonderful recipe for Spinach Gallette which we both love.

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  11. Great soup recipe to add to my files!

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  12. Soup is our staple lunch through the Winter months and I'm always looking out for new ideas so will definitely try this one. I'll be using Spring Greens or Kale though.
    Happy Easter to you both Jo

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    1. Happy Easter to you Sue. This would be just as good with Spring Greens or Kale. To me Spring Greens are very like collards anyway.

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  13. Nope. I was wrong on the fish front. Collards have to be done just right for me, odd since my wife is the same way about cabbage. :)

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    1. Depends what you mean by 'just right'. I like them prepared several different ways.

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  14. I haven't given collards enough attention. My beau cooks with them, though, and they're pretty good. So thank you for also inspiring me to eat more collards.

    Happy Easter weekend, Jo.

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    1. Same to you Robyn. I'm doing dinner for some friends tomorrow which will make our Easter fun. Yes, collards are so good for you.

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  15. I've heard of them but never seen them in the vegetable section. They sound and look nutritious.

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    1. Deep intense greens Pinky - you may not actually have them in Oz, but you must have something similar I would guess. Do you have kale? That is a substitute although not quite the same flavour.

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  16. The soup looks delicious! I love soups with sausage & kale. I usually put white beans in mine too.

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    1. I often do that too. Makes it delicious and nourishing.

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  17. I am not a lover of sausage as my could tell you(that's a story!). I have heard of collards but I don't know anything about them. How do they taste? Is it like a cabbage??

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    1. It is certainly part of the cabbage family, but the taste is a lot stronger than cabbage. Probably an acquired taste, but since I have been eating dark leafy greens all my life, I am not sure about that.

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  18. FINALLY!!

    Something I recognize or have made before... I LOVE Caldo Verde... it's easy and delicious... just like me in my old, single days!

    What?

    :)

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    1. Way to go Mark, now I never have made this particular recipe. Hope you find more recipes you recognise.

      Really?

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  19. Ooooh, collard greens! Mom cooked them with ham hock or bacon and onion. We ate them with vinegar. Thanks for the memory!

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    1. Your mom must have been a true southerner then.

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  20. I've never tried collard greens wit tomato sauce, but that sounds really good. I usually make them with Cajun seasoning.

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    1. Not actually tomato sauce Danielle, just tomato or tomato paste with garlic and maybe a little olive oil. Cajun seasoning sounds good too.

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  21. I love vedge like that, big leafy green and yummy.

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  22. Oh Grandma Jo, that looks delicious. I love collard greens and I love sausage (and chorizo, lol). The way you make your collards with olive oil and lots of garlic is how I make my spinach. :)

    I apologize for being a bit tardy in my visit. I love you Grandma Dragon!! Hugs. Eva

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    1. Me too Eva. I will try that with spinach one day.

      No worries, I am going be tardy with most comments today, Busy.

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  23. Oh I'm so going to try this one! I love greens, almost any greens, and have a soft spot in my heart cause of my name, haha! Great post! Lisa, co-host AtoZ 2015, @ http://www.lisabuiecollard.com

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    1. I'm a bit slow, I hadn't even connected the two LOL. How are you doing with the Challenge and being a host?

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