Southern Lovin Greens

Growing up in the South, I heard people talking about Collard Greens, Mustard Greens, or just Greens. My Mom didn't make them, and I didn't try them until I was in my 20's!! I have had some horrible ones, but just recently I had some AMAZING Greens. I started craving them (thank you pregnancy), so I started doing some research on how to prepare them. My husband had never tried them (he's from New England), so I had to give him a taste of the South.

Ingredients:

1 package precut mixed greens. It was 1lb total and was mixed with mustard and collard greens
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 slices of bacon
1 large onion (chopped)
2-3 garlic gloves, depending on their size
3 cups chicken broth
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add bacon, and cook until crisp. Remove bacon from pan, crumble and return to the pan. Add onion, and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, and cook until just fragrant. Add collard greens, and fry until they start to wilt. For those that have never cooked greens, please note that the greens will SHRINK..that's the best way to describe it. Wilt is a good word...but since I had never cooked them, I was like "my pot is over flowing!!" Just keep stirring the greens and the heat will cause them to wilt.

Once they have "wilted" (is that a word?), pour in chicken broth, and season with salt and pepper.  Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 45 minutes, or until greens are tender. I cooked mine for an hour. There will be a lot of liquid in the pot, so I just used prongs to get them out.

I served them with Homemade Mac n Cheese and Melt in Your Mouth chicken (posted on this Blog).

Thank you to Allrecipes.com for helping me with this recipe and pinterest for the Melt in Your Mouth Chicken Recipe!!! See, there are definetely some MUST TRYS on these sites!!!

I also decided to make these, because a great friend recommended leafy greens to me. I have severe anxiety at times, and the leaves and stems are good in minerals like iron, calcium, copper, manganese, selenium and zinc.All of these have been linked to help with depression and anxiety =)