Kale, Kale, Kale

Kale Pesto.

Kale Chips.

Guac-KALE-mole (and no outcry in the New York Times? Puh-leeze!)

Kale this and Kale that yadda yadda do da.

You’d think it was the only leafy green in the world.

I’m not a kale hater, but it’s NOT the only green in the Garden.

Last week, my head was turned by….

Collard Greens.

Back in the day, the English called these pretty babies Coleworts. ‘Collards’ is a dialectal variation of the word, the variation that stuck.

Great, big, beautiful, cut that very morning collards. A foot long in leaf and nearly as wide.

Hello, beautiful.

Collards are the the Jan Brady of the Greens World.

“Marcia Marcia Marcia” – just like collards say “Kale Kale Kale”

They do not make the back cover of Cook’s Illustrated. Their Spokes-model is Huck Finn. They are not artisanal. No one seems to be making Guac-Collard-mole, thank you, thank you very much.

Any how,

at the Plymouth Farmer’s Market  I saw a bunch of collards greens, among many bunches of collards

……my eye was caught.

My thoughts were spinning .

Like “Where the heck is my Victory Garden Cookbook? Collards and Rice would be very nice.”

Collards and Rice, easy-peasy to make. Collards, rice and chicken broth.

AND I had just made broth by tossing a rotisserie chicken carcass into the slow cooker with assorted bits and bobs of veggies too few or too far gone to otherwise be on the table, which then got to give up their goodness before they gave up the ghost.

Collards and Rice is really simple. Heat broth, add rice, add chopped collards and cook until done.

But I also don’t have my own pots and pans and bowls right now, so I need some measurements and proportions to work with. A little Google time online, and sure enough, someone else had adapted this same recipe, so this is my adaptation of another adaptation:(Collards and Rice: A Magical Combination  November 8, 2010 by zsinger   http://www.sunsetparkcsa.org/?p=94)

Collards and Rice
Adapted from The Victory Garden Cookbook

Serves 6-8

4 cups chicken broth  (you can use water, or only part broth or add a piece of bacon or 2 or add a little butter)
2 cups long-grained white rice
6 cups loosely packed cups cleaned and chiffonade  raw collard leaves – cut out the ribs roll and slice. If the leaves are really big, randomly hack away. they shrink in the cooking. I put the cut bits in a big bowl and measured them out by the handfuls…6ish handfuls = 6 cups in my world today.

Freshly ground pepper

Boil broth; add rice. Bring back to a boil. Stir and add the collards, handful by handful, stirring constantly. Cover, bring to a boil, reduce heat, and cook until the rice is done, approximately 20 minutes.

Rooster Sauce

Season to taste. (this is where the pepper comes in. Or Tabasco or other hot pepper sauce .I’m loving Rooster sauce right now)

I love this book – Marian Morash is wonderful!