How to make healthy collard greens in 5 minutes

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Collard greens ~ cooked for hours with a hambone is soooo Southern and soooo NOT eating them in their highest health providing form! Collard greens are one of the healthiest foods alive. An extremely detailed article on this powerhouse food is found here by Dr. Axe. I like them because of all the reasons he states, and as a fun fall/winter green. Their most notable characteristics are their high protein, vitamin’s K and C content. But how you cook them can enhance not only their nutrient content, and the bioavailability, and their ability to help you increase your energetic vibration!

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch of collard greens

• 1/4 c unfiltered olive oil (unfiltered has the most nutrients)

• 2 TBS hemp hearts*

• 1-2 crushed cloves of garlic (raw crushed garlic will pack a punch of probiotics, energy and taste)

• Celtic seal salt and pepper to taste (more micronutrients)

deveining the collards

deveining the collards

stack the leaves

slicing and dicing the collards

dicing into 1" squares or triangles

place collards in boiling water for 3-4 minutes

straining the collards

adding the finishing fats and seasonings

serving for 2-4 from one bunch of collards

Here is my tried and true recipe for 1 bunch of fresh collard greens in a speedy preparation;

1. put a pot of water (3 qts water) on to boil with a pinch of unrefined sea salt

2. devein them by sliding a knife along either side of the vein (see the photos, the veins are not digestible)

3. line the leaves up and chop them. I like to chop them into 1” squares because they are bite sized then, you may also ribbon them at about 1/8”

4. when the water is boiling (should be about the time you are finished deveining and chopping) drop the chopped collards into the water and bring back to a boil

5. boil for 3-5 minutes depending on if you are using younger leaves or older leaves

6. while they are boiling, crush the garlic and mix the garlic, salt, pepper, hemp hearts and olive oil together

7. strain the water off the boiled collards and add the mixture of oil and spices and toss together until evenly coated

*Hemp hearts are a healthy plant based Omega 3. It’s often suggested to get your Omega 3 and Omega 6 fats in equal proportions - like they are in butter. So when I use Olive oil, which is an Omega 6, I always use an Omega 3 to balance it. You can also use butter and toasted pine nuts.

Enjoy!