Collard Greens

Ingredients

• 1 pound collard greens 

• 4 medium cloves of garlic 

• 2 Tablespoons oil 

• ¼ teaspoon salt 

• ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper 

Directions

1. Wash your hands well with soap and hot water.

2. Cut or tear the hard stems off the collard greens. 

3. Fill a large bowl with cold water. Put the cut greens into the water. Swish the greens around with your hands to wash off any dirt. Let the dirt settle to the bottom of the bowl. If greens are still dirty, repeat this step. 

4. Lift the greens out of the water. Let the greens dry in a colander or on paper towels. Dry them as well as you can. 

5. Make a stack of three or four collard leaves. Stack the leaves on top of each other. 

6. Roll each stack into a tube, like a cigar. 

7. Use a sharp knife to cut the tubes into thin strips about ¼-inch wide. 

8. Smash, remove paper skin and cut garlic into tiny pieces. 

9. Turn the eye of the stove to medium-high heat. Preheat a large skillet. 

10. Add the oil to the skillet. Let it get hot. 

11. Add the collard greens to the skillet. Be careful. If the greens are damp, the oil might splatter and burn you. If all the greens won’t fit into the skillet, cook them in two batches. 

12. Stir the greens until they are wilted, about 2 minutes. 

13. Turn the heat to medium. Add the garlic. Stir to mix the garlic with the greens. 

14. Keep cooking until the greens are soft and there is no water in the skillet. This will take about 5 to 7 minutes. If the garlic starts to brown before the greens are done, turn the heat to medium-low. 

15. Season the greens with salt and pepper. Serve them right away. 

16. Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours.