Greens are an inexpensive, healthy, and traditional southern winter garden staple. Learn how to make this simple side dish using either mustard, turnip, or collard greens or a combination of the three.

A Traditional Southern Garden Staple

Drive around Louisiana in the winter, or anywhere in the south for that matter, and anywhere you see a garden, it’s almost a guarantee that you’ll find some kind of greens growing. They’re a super easy and low maintenance crop that keeps producing all season long.

I’m one of the strange southerners who, unlike my husband, didn’t grow up eating greens. Every year I try to acquire a taste for them but haven’t succeeded in liking them yet.

Not Just Cheap, But A Healthy Addition To Your Diet Too

Mustard, turnip, and collard greens aren’t only cheap, they’re good for you too! Packed full of vitamins, phenols, and antioxidants, they have a number of health benefits that you can read more about on WH Foods and Dr. Axe. However, you do want to be aware that greens contain a lot of vitamin k and could affect how your blood clots. So while eating a reasonable serving size periodically should be fine, eating profuse amounts may not be a good idea if you are on blood thinners or have concerns related to bleeding and blood clots.

What Kind Of Greens Can You Cook?

You can cook mustard greens, collard greens, turnip greens, or a combination of the three. If you have turnip greens, you can peel and slice up some turnips and cook them right in the pot with the greens. Our household favorite is a combination of the three types of greens with turnips cooked in.

Greens wilt and really cook down, so you have to start off with way more than you think you’ll need. I cook my greens in a large stockpot and continue packing them in as they wilt down. The pot will start out jammed packed full of greens but by the time they finish cooking, there will only be enough for a few large servings so plan accordingly for the shrinkage.

To Prepare Your Mustard Greens For Cooking

After picking or buying your greens, you’ll want to wash them well to remove any garden bugs or debris. An easy way to wash the greens is to fill your sink up with water, put all the greens in and swish them around well. Drain the water then repeat until the water stays clean.

The stalks and thick stems don’t cook down like the tender green leaves do so strip off any stalks. By stripping the stalks off, you can use even the big leaves instead of having to search up and down the rows for the tiny, tender green leaves.

A Family Tradition

My husband, Eric, grew up eating greens, cornbread and pepper vinegar on a regular basis. They usually had greens as a side dish with porkchops, ham or bacon. Sometimes just a big pot of greens as the main dish. His dad grew up eating greens and this is the recipe from his Grandma that got it all started.

Homemade Mustard Greens Ingredients

Fresh Greens – Mustards, Collards, Turnips or a combination of the three – washed and de-stalked
Turnips – optional, washed, peeled, and sliced
1 lb either bacon or salt pork – cut into small pieces
baking soda

Homemade Mustard Green Instructions

In a large pot, cook the bacon or salt pork.
Without draining the grease, add the greens and turnips to your pot. Depending on how many greens you have and the size of your pot, you may have to keep adding more to your pot as the greens wilt down.
As the greens start to wilt, add 1/4 teaspoon baking soda around the edge of the pot in four places (1 teaspoon total).
Continue cooking on medium heat until the greens are completely wilted and the turnips are softened.
Season if desired with salt and pepper or cajun seasoning.
Sprinkle with Pepper Vinegar and serve with Cornbread for a traditional southern side dish.

Recipes to Go With Your Greens:

Hot Pepper Vinegar Sauce

Easy Homemade Cornbread