Stuffed Collard Greens

September 20141

 

Holy moly Collard Greens! These things are huge, delicious, and waiting to be stuffed! This is yet another recipe that is wonderful in its adaptability. My inspiration was for a creole themed version, but whose to say it couldn’t be Greek, Mexican, Moroccan, Italian, Indian, or refrigerator-leftovers themed instead?

Here’s what you need:

1 bunch collard greens
1 1/2 cups cooked rice
1 cup seasoned stuffing (recipe below) 
1/4 cup chicken broth

Here’s what you do:

1. Cook some rice. Or quinoa. Or couscous. You’ll want about 1 1/2 cups cooked whole grain. This would be a great use for leftovers lurking in the fridge.

2. Prep the collards. Cut the center stem out of each leaf of 1 bunch of collard greens, so that you now have several halves of leaves. Boil some water in a big pot, then drop a few leaves in at a time. Completely submerge leaves for about 30 seconds to 1 minute. Pull them out carefully with tongs and set in a strainer under running cold water. Now pat off blanched leaves with a clean dish towel to remove some moisture.

3. Mix up the stuffing. Brown some veggies and ground meat or mushrooms, then add seasoning of your choice. Feel free to go ad hoc here, but if you need more guidance, the combination I used is below. Mix meat/veggie mixture with 1 egg and the cooked rice.  Taproot Tip: over-season your stuffing–the rice and collard greens with dilute it some in the end.

4. Roll ’em up. (Reference pictures above) Place a collard half on a large cutting board or plate. Spoon a heaping tablespoon or two (depending on the size of the leaf) of stuffing near the bottom third of the leaf. Fold sides in over the stuffing. Fold bottom portion over stuffing, then roll, tucking in the leaf edges to make sure stuffing doesn’t spill out. Place stuffed collards in a small baking dish, then pour the 1/4 cup chicken broth in. Cover baking dish tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Taproot Tip: If you have stuffing left over, sprinkle it on top of the collard rolls, or save it to use as stuffing for an acorn or delicata squash

 

Suggested Stuffing:

1 onion or leek
1 green or red bell pepper
1/2 pound ground meat (pork, beef, turkey, or lamb)
1 carrot, shredded
2 cloves garlic
salt and pepper, to taste
dried oregano, basil, thyme, paprika, and red chile flakes to taste 

Text and photography by Katie Darlington- Taproot employee, home cooking enthusiast, and farm-to-kitchen blogger.  More of her recipes and writing can be found on her own blog, A Season to Taste.