I find myself in a conundrum. I worry about people I see online as well as friends and family.  I see their food choices and think, you're killing yourself.  I have a cousin who has a morbidly obese spouse and children who are obese, yet I see shares of food that are just killing them.  Literally.

So what do you do?  In this day and age, we cannot tell a fat person they are hurting themselves without it being called body shaming.  I'm not sure what the right answer is.  On one hand I want to help them and on the other, I don't want to hurt their feelings or be called a bully.  So instead, I'll just share one of my favorite recipes for Collards with you.


I get my collards in bunches on the stalks.  Collards hold sand like you would not believe so you're going to want to wash them really well.

Photo Credit - Elijah Olson

Start by cutting the stalks off then ends and discard.

Photo Credit - Elijah Olson

 Use a paring knife to remove the stems from the center of the leaf.

Photo Credit - Elijah Olson

 I remove them like so.

Photo Credit - Elijah Olson

Next put them in a sink full of water and wash them really well.  The sand should sink to the bottom.

Photo Credit - Elijah Olson

 Collards are always better after they have been exposed to at least one frost.  To ensure that I can cut the bitterness from them I put them in a bag and poss them in the freezer for a couple of hours.

Photo Credit - Elijah Olson

 After the "frost" I take them and put them in a pot with the onion that I have diced and allowed to cook a bit with a little vegan butter.

Photo Credit - Elijah Olson

 I have tried a few different types of veggie broth, my two favorites are Emeril's (which I don't think is on the market any more) and Swanson.

Photo Credit - Elijah Olson

 Cook the collards on medium/low heat until they are tender.  You can test them by taking a bit out to taste them.

Photo Credit - Elijah Olson

 I then drain the collards a lot.  Mash the moisture out of them and then serve with a splash of apple cider vinegar.

Photo Credit - Elijah Olson

I hope you find this recipe helpful.  They were really yummy on this icy cold day we had today.  I took a few photos.

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson