vegetables

Southern Garden Kale Greens

A RizzieFarms garden recipe for cooking a fresh mess of tender kale greens the Southern way. Large leaves are washed, stemmed, cut into broad pieces, then simmered slowly with onion, bacon, chicken broth, black pepper, salt, and a touch of red pepper flakes until tender and deeply flavored.

Servings: 6 servings
Total Time: 95 min

Ingredients

Greens
  • 1 large mess fresh kale greens, preferably large but still tender leaves
  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 4 slices bacon, cut into small pieces
  • Chicken broth, enough to mostly cover the greens after they wilt
Seasoning
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper, or to taste
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
  • ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste
Southern Garden Kale Greens

Instructions

  1. Pick a generous mess of large but tender kale leaves from the garden.
  2. Wash the kale very well in several changes of cool water to remove any dirt or grit.
  3. Cut or tear the tough center stems out of each leaf, leaving the tender green portions.
  4. Stack several leaves together, roll them loosely like a cigar, and cut across the roll several times to make large pieces.
  5. Place the bacon pieces in a large heavy pot or Dutch oven over medium heat and cook until they begin to render their fat.
  6. Add the diced onion and cook with the bacon for several minutes, until the onion begins to soften.
  7. Add the prepared kale to the pot in batches, stirring and allowing each batch to wilt down before adding more.
  8. Season with black pepper, salt, and red pepper flakes.
  9. Pour in enough chicken broth to come up around the greens and mostly cover them once they have fully wilted.
  10. Bring to a gentle simmer, then reduce the heat to low. Cover and cook the greens slowly for about 60–75 minutes, stirring occasionally, until very tender.
  11. Taste the greens and pot liquor, then adjust the salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes as needed.
  12. Serve hot with some of the flavorful pot liquor spooned over the greens.

Notes

  • RizzieFarms Original.
  • This is a traditional Southern-style long, slow cooking method rather than a quick sauté.
  • Large kale leaves are excellent for this recipe as long as they are still tender and not tough or overly mature.
  • Removing the center stems before cooking keeps the finished greens tender.
  • Rolling the leaves like a cigar before cutting is an easy way to prepare a large mess of greens quickly.
  • Do not rush the cooking. The greens develop better flavor and texture as they simmer slowly with the bacon, onion, and broth.
  • The broth left in the pot, often called pot liquor, is part of the dish and should be served with the greens.

Tags

kale greens garden southern bacon vegetables slow cooked rizziefarms original