THE FOLKLORE OF PLANTS: Collard

Lisa Karen Miller

In addition to losing a few pounds, some of us are looking to detox after welcoming in the New Year a bit too enthusiastically.  Collard greens can help with that.

Collard and other cruciferous vegetables (kale, cabbage, bok choy, broccoli, cauliflower, mustard, turnips, and kohlrabi) can assist the liver in detoxifying ingested toxins such as alcohol.  Julius Caesar used to eat a plateful of collards after a wine-drenched royal banquet, to aid his digestion and counteract the effects of the fruit of the vine.

Both collard and kale are loose-leafed wild cabbages, and the predecessors of head cabbage.

We aren’t sure exactly when collards made it to our shores, but in 1565 explorers found it being cultivated on Hispaniola, a West Indian island. When the first African slave ship arrived in Virginia in 1619, collards were already thriving in the hot climate there. Being easy to grow and nutritious, collards became a staple of the slaves’ meager diets, cooked with bits of meat and bones the slave owners discarded.

The traditional Southern way of cooking them is to simmer them in water with pork – ham hocks, salt pork, or a bit of leftover ham – until they reach a pleasant state of softness, but not mushiness.  The residual liquid, known as “pot likker,” is delicious too and must be mopped up with good cornbread.  This was one of Martin Luther King’s favorite dishes.    

We aren’t the only region that enjoys this vegetable.  In Portugal, one of the national dishes is caldo verde, or green soup.  A combination of collard, kale, chard, onions, garlic, and potatoes, it is eaten daily by many people to maintain good health.

Ethiopians make a dish called ayib be gomen with chopped collards, cottage cheese, black pepper, butter, and salt. They also love ye’abesha gomen, steamed collards with olive oil, red onions, green peppers, and spices.

Southerners believed that a collard leaf nailed over the door prevented evil from entering.  Some also applied the leaves to the temple to treat headache.

Low fat, low calorie, and low sodium (until you add salt), collard greens are a dieter’s dream. Cooking them releases higher levels of minerals and vitamins. One cup of cooked greens has only 63 calories, and significant amounts of protein, iron, calcium, protein, iron, magnesium, and phosphorus.

Studies at the University of Nebraska have shown that collard has effective cancer-fighting compounds.  It also helps to keep arteries clear, preventing heart attacks and strokes.

Make collard a part of your diet this year – it will boost your health in more ways than one.

© Copyright 2023 Lisa Karen Miller