Wintery Warm Collards W/Bacon & Onions

I've been really meaning to try out a recipe with Collards- I always seem to let them go bad before I get to using them, and for that, Mother Nature, I am sorry! I'll tell ya what though, Mother Nature has created a wonderful, nutritious food within the Collard Green- full of cancer protecting factors, cholesterol-lowering abilities, and my personal favorite charactristic-they have many anti-inflammatory properties!

I combined a few recipes I found online to create my own version of a classic Southern side dish. My hubby had never had Collards before and was quite skeptical when he saw the tough, raw leaves- so he was very pleasantly surprised with the outcome of this warm, wintery dish- and I was too!!

Ingredients & Recipe:
Printable Recipe

• 1 Bunch of Collard Greens (you can also use Kale), de-stemmed & chopped into 2" pieces
• 4-5 slices of bacon, chopped into 1" chunks
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 onion, sliced thin
• 1 cup of water
• dash of nutmeg
• dash of cayenne pepper
• pepper to taste
• 1 tsp. apple cider vinegar (optional, I really encourage!)

Set your Dutch Oven or a deep pan over medium-low heat. Sprinkle in your 1" pieces of bacon and cook until almost crispy, then drain on a piece of paper towel and set aside.

Next, toss the onions & garlic into the bacon fat which was leftover in the pan, and cook gently for 5 minutes. Pour in 1 cup of water, the nutmeg, cayenne, regular pepper and vinegar, stir to incorporate everything together, and then begin to fold in the raw collards. Cover the pan and simmer on medium-low heat for about 20 minutes, or until the collards are tender and edible.

Finish by removing the lid for the last 5 minutes or so, and let as much of the liquid evaporate as possible. Toss the bacon back in just before serving to warm through, then serve!

You Could Also Try...

• You shouldn't need to add salt to this recipe, the bacon has enough salt already.
• Use Kale instead of Collard Greens!
• Use as a Holiday side dish!