Honey-Braised Collard Greens from OK Cafe are sweet, but not cloying

About the recipe

There are collards, and then there are collards. The ones served up at the OK Cafe are definitely in the second category. The secret ingredient that makes them so distinctive: the honey. Yes, the amount is correct — one pound! The dish is sweet, but, surprisingly not as cloying as you might assume. If you don’t have much of a sweet tooth, you could certainly cut the honey back to suit your taste.

Recipe courtesy of OK Cafe in Atlanta, Georgia.

Serves: 8

Hands On Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 2 hours and 5 minutes

Ingredients

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 onion, thinly sliced

1 ham hock

1 pound honey

4 cups water

1 tablespoon sea salt

1 teaspoon ground white pepper

5 pounds collard greens, stems removed and leaves chopped into 1-inch pieces, or 1 (3-pound) bag of pre-washed and de-stemmed collard greens

Instructions

In a large stockpot or Dutch oven, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the onion and ham hock and cook, stirring constantly, until onions become translucent, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the honey, water, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Add the collard greens and return to a boil.

Reduce the heat to maintain a low simmer and cook until the collards are very tender, 90 minutes to 2 hours. Serve.

Nutrition

Per serving: 306 calories, 5 grams protein, 7 grams fat (percent calories from fat, 20), 63 grams carbohydrates, 20 milligrams cholesterol, 945 milligrams sodium, 5 grams fiber.