Part of Our Culinary History
Courtesy of The New York Public Library
For people of African descent in the Americas, greens are apart of our culinary history. For example, in precolonial Africa, female toddlers of commoners accompanied their female elders into the forest to gather vitamin rich “bush greens,” different varieties of kale, collards, and mustard greens. Over time Africans across the continent domesticated these wild greens in their subsistence gardens. They learned from their elders how to prepare a variety of greens raw or cooked. Depending on regional differences, people seasoned them with salt, pepper, onions, garlic, herbs, vinegar and pieces of animal protein.
Vegan Greens
Ingredients
1 bunch of greens: collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens, kale, or chard
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 bay leaf
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 teaspoon salt, depending on the saltiness of your stock
Liquid smoke or smoked paprika
Method:
Wash the collards good in plenty of slightly salted water, strip the leaves off the steams, discard the steams and cut the greens into small pieces. Start out with 3 bunches which will serve 6 people, they are big but they cook down like spinach. I steam mine in a pressure cooker for 10 minutes until the fibrous leaves are easy to eat. Steaming preserves the water soluble vitamins that are killed when you just boil the greens down like most of my ancestors have done for years.Remove the collards from the pressure cooker and save the water to make the pot-licker or stock. Season the water with 3 cubes of vegetable bullion, dried bay leaf, dried red pepper flakes, little vinegar, and some honey. Had some smoked paprika or a little liquid smoke which most grocery stores sell if you like that smoked meat flavor (the traditional recipe calls for a smoked ham hock or a hunk of smoked fat back). The pot-licker is full of vitamins and great seasoning for the greens Sauté the steamed greens with chopped onions and garlic in olive oil with your preferred seasonings like pepper, salt, etc. Add sautéed greens to the pot-licker and let them marinade for 30 or more minutes.
