Recipe: Stuffed Collard Greens
Ingredients
Sweet-Sour Tomato Sauce:
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil • 1 large onion, chopped
- (28-ounce) can no salt added tomato sauce
- 1 tbsp Sucanat (dehydrated cane juice) sugar or honey
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar ¼ tsp each kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Handful (about 10 leaves) chopped basil
Filling
- 1 tsp. vegetable oil
- 1/4 pound lean ground beef
- 1 tbsp. fennel seeds cloves garlic, minced large onion, finely chopped large stalks celery, finely chopped
- 2 large carrots, finely chopped • 2 cups cooked brown rice cup water or low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 large zucchini roasted, diced
- 1/8 tsp cayenne
- 1/4 tsp each kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley or whatever fresh herb you have on hand
- 1 bunch collard greens, about 12 leaves, stalks discarded
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Make Sauce: Saute the onion in oil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat, until softened. Stir in the tomato sauce, Sucanat, apple cider vinegar, salt and pepper. Let simmer for 15 minutes.
- While sauce is simmering make filling: Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the beef and brown. Once browned, add fennel seed, garlic, onion, celery and carrot. Cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in cooked rice, water, spinach, cayenne, salt and pepper. Then add parsley mixing thoroughly and letting the water reduce until there is no moisture left in the pan.
- In a large pot of boiling water, over medium heat, add the collard leaves and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water.
- Lay collard leaf out on a flat surface and add 1/4 cup of the rice mixture in center. Fold both the sides into the center and the top and bottom over the center. Roll into a cylinder and repeat with the remaining leaves. If there are any remaining leaves you can chop them up and add to the sauce.
- Pour a 1/2-inch layer of sauce into a 13 by 9-inch aluminum pan. Arrange the collard rolls, seam sides down, on top of the sauce. Pour the remaining sauce over the stuffed collards and cover with foil. Bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and serve.
Quick Notes
Quick Notes Nutrition Information for two stuffed collards: Calories: 258, Total Fat: 6 grams, Saturated Fat: 1 gram, Cholesterol: 12 mg, Total Carbohydrate: 42 grams, Protein: 11 grams, Dietary Fiber: 8 grams, Sugars: 14 grams, Sodium: 236 mg.
Number of servings (yield): 12
Diane Welland, M.S., RD
