On the menu tonight: Smoky Sauteed Collard Greens and Spiced, Smashed Sweet Potatoes.
Ultimately, it's a meeting between classic comfort foods and the genius authors of Veganomicon.
Bonus: You'll have plenty of room for dessert :)
I tried collard greens for the first time this summer, during our vacation in Asheville, NC. Tupelo Honey Cafe--a delightful little restaurant that specializes in southern cooking with local, organic ingredients--offered a three veggie entree, featuring sauteed collards. Never being one to shy away from a food I have yet to taste, I tried their collard greens and I was thrilled with the result.
It's been over a month since our travels, and I finally located a collard recipe that best mirrors my Tupelo Honey experience. The key ingredient? Liquid smoke. I was skeptical at first, most likely because I found it in the grocery store sandwiched between the hot sauces and steak sauces (need I say more?). But, one recipe of smoky sauteed collards later, and I now call myself a believer.
A quick note of the flavor of collards: Make sure you cook them down in the marinade long enough--they can have a bit of a bitter flavor prior to the cook-down. I'm sure the non-vegetarian version, which employs bacon fat as the key ingredient, boasts a bacon-y delicious flavor that masks any bitterness the greens might hold. Ah, well. Maybe in another lifetime.
As previously noted, we served our smoky collards with simple mashed sweet potatoes--recipe also courtesy of Veganomicon. Although I'm not a vegan, this cookbook alone could easily convert me. The authors (who also wrote my favorite vegan cookie cookbook) make vegan cooking easy and delicious. No hard-to-find ingredients, no soy "cheeses," and most recipes are short and simple. Love it!
So, liquid smoke in hand, and armed with a bundle of fresh collards, let's get to cooking this classic comfort dish...veganized of course :)
Smoky Sauteed Collard Greens
(A recipe from Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook, by Isa Chandra, Maskowitz and Terry Hope Romero)
We enjoyed these hearty, flavorful greens with mashed sweet potatoes. And a Rocky Road cookie for dessert :)
Ingredients:
- 1 lb. collard greens, thinly chopped
- 5 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 small onion, diced
- 1 TBSP olive oil
Smoky Marinade Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup veggie broth (or chicken if you're not a veg-head)
- 2 TBSP reduced sodium soy sauce
- 2 TBSP apple cider vinegar
- 1 TBSP liquid smoke
- 1 TBSP maple syrup
Directions:
1) Combine marinade ingredients in a small bowl. Set aside.
2) In a pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Saute onion and garlic until tender, about 3-4 minutes. Add chopped collard greens and cook for 2 minutes. Add marinade and cook on low-medium heat until collards are tender and cooked --about 15 minutes.
haha.. i like the fact that you keep the dinner light so you have more room for dessert!!
ReplyDeleteoh my gosh, i want greens NOW! they're so good and it's been waaaaaaaaay too long!
ReplyDeleteI love how simple your dinner looks, but I bet it tasted amazing!
ReplyDeleteI'm from the south and I can't remember the last time I had collards. It's been a long time. And I don't think I've ever made them myself.
ReplyDeleteI always forget how much I love liquid smoke! I need to pick some up
ReplyDeleteI just made your sweet potato and black bean rolls and holy smokes they were so delicious!! You were totally right about the sauce too, it was to DIE for!! I will be blogging about it tomorrow just to let you know :)
ReplyDeleteAwesome, Kat! So glad to hear you liked the recipe :)
ReplyDeleteI SOOOOO love greens - I totally have to make these!!!
ReplyDeleteEven though I'm from TX, I've never had collard greens! I did try turnip greens recently and they were super bitter, so I wondered if that's partly why people cook greens with ham hocks. Liquid smoke is a brilliant substitute!
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