Massaged Collard Greens Salad

February Freeze

An after-the-fact Valentine’s post; the notion of a Southern classic revamped to bring a little sunshine and playfulness straight to a rather frosty condition. A warm and bright salad, lovingly coaxed into tender perfection… not bad for the middle of February, right?

Right. If you’re someone who gets down with the massaged kale craze, those big salads at restaurants or ones you make at home, I think it’s high time you try out a massaged COLLARDS salad! Why? Because well, why not? This idea of building your veggie arsenal is one I’ve worked on for a long time, when I was seeing clients, too. Start with ONE vegetable you like, and then play around with its cousin. Don’t like bell pepper? Then don’t try to eat them for the sake of being “healthy”! You DO like broccoli? Ok, great. Now let’s try broccolini, or cauliflower. Get used to the same but different, then build, build, build.

THIS is how you build a liberatory food experience.

As balanced as your plate can be, if it appears balanced but is steeped in rigidity, then, well, we have to ask ourselves… is this a LIFE? Is this what I WANT? Do I want to believe I am ONLY good when I am chained? Is that true liberation?

Ask yourself.

You may cry at the answer, and that’s ok. Maybe you don’t want liberation! That’s cool, too! But the knowledge? That’s the most incredible part of it all.

Ok, on to the recipe.

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Massaged Collard Greens Salad

Course Salad

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes

Total Time 15 minutes

Servings 4 people

Ingredients

Massaged Collard Greens Salad

• 2 large bunches collard greens
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 white onion finely sliced
• 6 to 8 strips bacon

Bacon Vinaigrette

• 3 tablespoons warm rendered bacon fat
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon blackstrap molasses
• 2 teaspoons mustard
• 1 clove garlic finely minced
• black pepper

Instructions

1. Cook bacon in large skillet over medium heat until crispy.
2. Meanwhile, remove stems from collard leaves.
3. Stack leaves in neat piles; fold in half and begin to finely, finely slice, creating delicate ribbons.
4. Sprinkle salt over collards in large bowl and massage until the leaves wilt, about a minute or two.
5. Add onions.

Bacon Vinaigrette

1. To make the dressing, combine vinegar, molasses, mustard and garlic clove in small bowl.
2. While whisking, pour in the bacon fat.
3. Chop the bacon into niblets, toss into the pile of collards and onions and immediately dress the salad while the bacon fat is still warm.
4. Gratuitously crack black pepper any and everywhere.
5. Serve with a poached egg (perhaps add pepitas or roasted bell peppers?
6. Or stay traditionally non-traditional while you pay this fresh homage to the classic greens recipe, sans ham hock [but plus drool-worthy bacon]).