How to Store Vegetables Collards

Storage and Preparation:

If collards cannot be prepared the day they are bought, they can be kept refrigerated a day or two at home. There is a small controversy about storing collards and other greens. One group suggests washing them in several changes of cold water, shaking them in several changes of cold water, shaking them nearly dry, and then storing one to two days in a paper or perforated vegetable bag in the vegetable section of the refrigerator. I have done this, and it works well if the greens are spun in a salad dryer first. I have also found that leaving too much water on the leaves tends to turn them a little slimy very quickly. If you will be preparing the greens within 24 hours of buying them, store them, unwashed, in a plastic bag in the vegetable section of the refrigerator.

Collards must be thoroughly washed, though they will not be as gritty as spinach, kale or mustard greens. Generally I wash them in two to three changes of water, swishing them well in each change and lifting them out of each “bath” to leave the sand and grit behind.

If the leaves are very large and the stems have thickened, remove the stems by holding each leaf in your left hand, folding the leaf so that the stem is on the right, and pulling the stem up to strip it off the leaf. The thick stems should be discarded. Large leaves can be sliced or chopped for a finer presentation.

Very small leaves should be left whole. If using small leaves for a salad, spin them in a salad spinner to dry them before adding to the salad mixture.


 

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