Spicy Stuffed Collard Greens
Ingredients
12 large collard greens leaves
1 pound ground beef
1 cup celery, finely chopped (2-3 stalks)
1⁄2 cup onion, chopped
4 cups salsa
2 cups cooked rice, hot (I used an entire box of Zataran’s Yellow Rice.)
1 packet taco seasoning mix (I prefer McCormick’s Low Sodium.)
1 cup Monterey jack cheese, shredded
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350*F.
2. Bring large pot of water to boil. Remove center veins from collard leaves, keeping each leaf in one piece. Immerse leaves, 4 at a time, into boiling water about 4 to 5 minutes or until leaves are limp. Drain well.
3. For filling, in a large skillet cook ground beef, celery, and onion until meat is brown and onion is tender. Drain off fat. Stir in 2 cups of salsa, hot cooked rice, and taco seasoning mix. Mix well.
4. Place 1⁄3 to 1⁄2 cup filling mixture on each collard leaf. Fold in sides. Starting at an unfolded edge, carefully roll up each leaf, making sure folded sides are included in the roll. Place stuffed collard greens in 3-quart baking dish. Spoon remaining 2 cups salsa over stuffed greens. Bake, uncovered, for 20 minutes. Top with cheese; bake 5 minutes more or until cheese is melted.
Comments
This recipe was given to me by my CSA farmer. I didn’t grow up eating greens so I don’t really know what to do with them when I get them from the market. This recipe was delicious, even Art liked it and he’s probably the pickiest of the three of us when it comes to greens. I made the mistake of cooking these in a double layer so they were pretty difficult to serve intact. Next time, I’d use a 9- by 12-inch baking dish so that I could achieve prettier plating.
Once everything was baked, I didn’t actually notice flavor from the collard greens, just the flavor from everything else. I’ll definitely make these in the future when I get collard greens again.
Person - Tina Eaton