Some of you may read this post and say to yourself, well, who doesn’t know how to cut greens?”
It may be an obvious question but I have to say, in all my years of baking and cooking, I never knew how to cut collards until very recently.
Call me a late bloomer when it comes to prepping some veggies but better late than never, right?
The first time I ever made these large, leafy collards, I could barely fit them all into a pot for boiling.
That’s because I stuffed and piled all the large, leafy greens into the pot.
I’d end up boiling a handful of greens, letting them shrink and then adding another handful and allowing them to boil down before adding more.
It never quite worked very smoothly and it required me to watch the boiling pot more than I wanted.
So, here’s a closer look at the collard cutting technique that has now revolutionized my collard prepping process.
First, strip the leafy part completely off the stem.
This is so important and I’m so glad I’ve finally figured that out.
After years of leaving the stems on when I put the greens in the pot, I now also know why my greens were so rough and tough to eat.
I apologize to everyone who ever ate my greens back then.
In my opinion, the stems just don’t cook down enough and the finished greens are much better without them.
OK, now that you have your layers and layers of big leaves, stack a handful together as if they were stacks of paper.
Then, roll them together as if you were rolling a fat cigar.
In fact, rolled collards actually do look a lot like cigars at this stage… albeit green ones.
Hold one end tightly and then slice like you would a cinnamon roll.
Call me weird but I just love the way the greens roll up like this (and I think they’re fun to slice).
Aren’t these cut collards beautiful?
They’ll also fit a lot better into your boiling pot when cut into slender strips like this.
The strips are uniform, consistent and so much easier to fork on your plate after they’re cooked too.
Who knew there was a bit of an art to cutting collards?
Now I know…. and if you didn’t already know… so do you.
Thanks for stopping by.
See you back here next time. ♥
Great suggestion for any leafy greens including doing basil. We always roll it up like a cigar and then do the chiffonade. Your greens look beautiful!! Great shots.
Thanks, Marisa.
Can you tell how impressed I was when I finally figured this out-lol.
I’m always learning something new (even when I’m late to the game).
Have a great week.
Mmmmm…Your photography almost allowed me to smell a pot of collards simmering away. I, like you, Lisa, was late to the proper way of preparing them for cooking. Another thing you might try, is folding the collard at the stem vertically (like closing a book) and using cooking shears to cut away the stem from the collard. I like it because it makes it a little faster, and both sides are stripped simultaneously. I just thought you might like to try it next time. I love your creative, inspirational, and beautiful blog!
Yes, yes, yes, Sherry. What a great idea to fold and use a pair of kitchen scissors.
I’ll try that next time.
Thanks for the tip and for the sweet message.
Happy day to you.
You got it girl!
Sandra, can you tell I’m so pleased and impressed with this easy technique-lol.
Thanks for popping over for a look.
Hope you have a great week.
Thank you! I had no idea! My husband and son especially like collards – I’ll surprise them . . .
Thanks, Patti.
It’s so simple, right?
As many people out there that are already familiar with this simple tip, I’m guessing there may be just as many that never thought of it-lol.
Happy day to you.
OK…I have stripped off the stems but always stacked them and cut them flat..I love this technique…and it looks pretty!….No such thing as a late bloomer in cooking!!!
Thanks Lisa!!!
Thanks, Shirley.
No I don’t feel so badly about discovering this technique so late in life-lol.
P.S. The Lovely Lemon Cheesecake was a hit!…My hubby has made a request for me to make it again…and again!
Yay, yay, yay! I hope you took some pictures of it.
I’m so glad it turned out for you.
Did you have leftover curd?
I think I’m going to make just the curd in a few weeks and jar it up for some springtime giftgiving.
Thanks for letting me know your cake turned out beautifully.