Brasilian Style Collard Greens

There is a Brasilian buffet up the street from me, and let me tell you, they can cook! On the occasions that I decide to drop in and grab a plate, my taste buds are always treated very well! ;) Aside from the typical Brasilian fare, this place does a variety of a typical items like lasagna and such, but the one thing that stands out quite a bit for me are their collard greens, which they call "couve".

Now, me and collard greens go way back. My parents and all of my people are from the southern part of the US, and my mom and grandmas cooked these all the time. We grew up on 'em! However, as much of southern cooking goes, they tended to add pork meats like ham hocks and neck bones to the greens to give them "flavor". Well, that it did! Mmmmm, mmmmm, mmmm! Thing is, though, my mom and grandmas seemed to cook everything "in grease" or with pork in it, not that I complained at all! LOL! That food was bangin'! However, I try to find the less greasy less fatty way to go about it when I cook the dishes they made, and the Brasilian way of doing collard greens is more up my alley.

I had to charm the chef into telling me how he does them, but Brasilians understand completely the art of being charming, and so he let me have the recipe! ;)

You take a large head of greens, break the leaves apart, and soak them for an hour at least, steeped in room temperature water. This gets all of the garden dirt and soil out.
When done with that, rinse each leaf separately under warm running water. That should do it for the cleaning part.

Roll a few leaves together tightly, and going from tip to stalk, slice off half inch strips all the way down to the stalks.

In a deep saucepan on very low heat, put a few tablespoons of virgin olive oil and some diced garlic. Allow garlic to simmer for about 2 to 3 minutes and then add in a half cup of water, followed by your greens and a little salt.
Cover with a ventilated top, and allow them to steam a bit. Check on them from time to time, stirring and turning them so that they cook evenly and the olive oil and garlic is distributed throughout.

Cook anywhere from 20 minutes to a half hour! Remove lid, stir around one more time, and voila! Couve a mineira (Brasilian style collard greens).
And do I need to stop here and tell you all the benefits of eating collard greens and kale? Thought not!~ This is one yummy, healthy dish! Enjoy! ;)