Collard greens is my latest discovery. As I’ve mentioned in couple recipe posts, every Friday I receive a box of veggies from a local farm. Couple times my box contained collard greens, I’ve never tried before, so I googled it, to figure out how can I prepare them. And one of the easy ways was to stir fry them. Collard greens are popular in East Africa mainly lightly sauteed in oil until tender, flavoured with onions and seasoned with salt, and served either as the main accompaniment or as a side dish with the preferred meat. So I decided to give it a try, but haven’t had any great expectations. Because I love garlic I swapped onion with some fresh garlic cloves and added generous amount of lemon pepper for some fresh lemony flavour.
They are so delicious! I would never expect that the bunch of green leaves may be so tasty. But I’m a fan of chopped & fried spinach, so if you’re not a amateur of this kind of green stuff on your plate, you might have a different opinion about stir fried collard 😉
Collard is a part of the same group as kale and spring greens. The name “collard” comes from the word “colewort” – the wild cabbage plant. Collard greens are great source of Vitamin K. Vitamin K acts as a modifier of bone matrix proteins, it improves calcium absorption, and it may reduce urinary excretion of calcium. One cup of boiled collard greens provides 770 micrograms of vitamin K. It’s also full of Vitamin C, E, A and folate. This green leaves are also source of all essential micro elements: potassium, magnesium, zinc, phosphorus, sodium and iron. So all the basic and very important nutrients you should consume every day to keep yourself strong and healthy.
Collard greens like other cruciferous vegetables can lower risk of developing various types of cancer, including cancer of the upper digestive tract, colorectal, breast cancer, and kidney cancer. One cup of boiled collard greens provides nearly 8 grams of fiber. Results of a study published in 2014 suggest that a high intake of fiber might reduce inflammation and glucose levels in people with type 1 diabetes. It may help people with type 2 diabetes to achieve better levels of blood sugar, lipids, and insulin. Fiber along with water content also help to maintain healthy digestion.
If you’d like to consider collard greens as keto friendly – one cup of cooked greens contains 10.73 g of carbohydrates, including 7.6 g of fiber and less than 1 g of sugar, which is a great score. So if you find them available in your local store do not hesitate and grab a bunch to stir fry them with garlic or onion.
quick & easy stir fried collard greens
INGREDIENTS:
- bunch of collard greens
- 2 garlic cloves
- olive oil/coconut oil/clarified butter – choose accordingly to your preferences
- pinch of natural rock salt
- good pinch of lemon pepper (or coarse pepper if you don’t have lemon pepper)
DIRECTIONS
Thoroughly rinse collard leaves under running water. Cut off the hard stems and roughly chop the leaves. Heat a frying pan adding olive oil, coconut oil or clarified butter. Toss collard greens and fry 5-7 minutes on medium heat. Thinly slice garlic cloves, add to the pan and fry another 2 minutes. Sprinkle with lemon pepper and salt. Serve hot, you can drizzle with some extra olive oil for more healthy fat. Stir fried greens are very versatile, the y go great with meat, fish or fried eggs.
Source of knowledge:
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/277957#health_benefits
Eat Better Feel Happy 