Collard Greens Galore

This is the report from the April 13th St. Helena's Communal #WFPB/Suppers Meal Prep event. We had five people.

We had a small group, and the program was a bit too much given the limited number of hands, but we had fun.


I had decided the theme for this time was collard greens, just to explore some different ideas. The salad was just an ordinary salad, but we split some ingredients with the stuffed collard greens later-on.

Salad:

Red leaf lettuce, baby spinach, beets and the works.

• 3 beets boiled, peeled, grated (with the mandolin)
• 1 head of red leaf lettuce
• 1 box of baby spinach
• a chopped white onion
• 1/2 buch of enoki mushrooms
• 2-3 cloves of minced garlic
• a yellow, orange, and red pepper cut-up in small chunks
• 5 tomatoes cut up fine
• 1/2 bunch of parsley - leaves cut up fine.
• several serving spoons of boiled quinoa
• chia seeds

1/2/3 dressing with lemon: 1 tbsp maple syrup, 2 tbsp dijon mustard, 3 tbsp balsamic, plus the juice of one lemon and two limes. (It all depends on how much juice you get).

That was one mean salad!

Soup:

Based on the recipe for Loaded Miso Noodle Soup from NutritionStudies, but with some additions - for 5 people, but we cooked way too much and people took quite a bit home, even after having seconds - we could have served 8-10 people:

5 servings of soba or brown rice noodles, uncooked

3 cups vegetable broth

10 cups water
1 sheet roasted nori seaweed, broken into pieces, or in our case we soaked about a table spoon of wakame to start the broth.

1 cup thinly sliced shiitake mushrooms  

5 leaves of collard greens, cut out the stems, roll them up and slice them thin so you end up with thin collard greens strips, similar to the julienned veggies.

1 cup julienned carrot

1 cup julienned zucchini

1 cup broccoli florets
1 cup of daikon, cut katsuramuki style, first in sheets and then rolled up and sliced into thin strips, again, like the spiralized veggies. Alternatively, you could simply julienne them on the mandolin.

8 Tbsp miso paste

1 (14-ounce) package firm tofu, cut into 1-inch cubes

1/2 cup chopped green onions

Preparation:

• Start the water, and add in the soaked wakame, or the nori, or both. (I have gone away from using hijiki because of its reputation for containing arsenic) this forms the foundation broth
• Noodles: you can cook them separately, as the original recipe suggests, but I like to cook them with the soup for the last 5-7 minutes, for if they sit around too long cooked, they will stick together.
• Prepare all your veggies, making sure you add-in the collard greens first, since they are the toughest. Keep the scallions (green onions) for last.
• Add in the veggies, except for the scallions and let boil on a slow rolling boil for 5 mins, 
• add in the 3 cup of veggie broth
• Scoop out some broth and use to dissolve the miso
• Add the miso, scallions, and tofu and let simmer for another 1 minute. Serve.

If you cooked the pasta separately, you add it in at the last moment, but I see nothing wrong with cooking the pasta in the soup for the last 5-7 minutes.

Oil-free hummus

1 15-Oz can of chickpeas, drained
1/4 cup of the aquafaba from the beans
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
zest of one lemon (thoroughly washed)
juice of one lemon
1 tsp of liquid aminos
if more liquid is needed, add some veggie stock or water.
optional 1 tsp paprika powder
optional some fresh parsley, or scallions

In the blender...

Stuffed Collard Greens and Collard Green Burritos

My idea here was that this is great food for picnics in the summer. You can make a stuffed collard green pocket or a burrito, and wrap it in a sheet of paper towel and wrap it in saran wrap and then use a sandwich bag. You can take that anywhere. I take it even to restaurants when I don't trust the food. "I'm on a diet." Eventually the restaurants will catch on. ;-)

I prepared the Collard green leaves two ways:
Steamed and then flatten the stems with a rolling pin - for the burritos
Fresh, but with the stems cut out and interleaving the two half-leaves, for the wraps.

For stuffings we had:

• a pilaf of brown and black rice
• quinoa with parsley and a splash of liquid aminos
• hummus was pre-made at home with garlic and paprika powder and some parsley
• steamed green beans
• scallions, sliced thin
• enoki mushrooms
• Upton's Jackfruit Chili Lime Carnitas
• Kimchi
• sauteed onions, green peppers and white mushrooms

OK, you can see now we had too much for just five people. Some other time, I'd like to do this again with a bigger group, and have people assemble the burritos and stuffed leaves at the table, so everyone can pick their own favorites.

Preparation/Assembly

You lay out the leaves, add a smear of hummus in the center, lay on some quinoa or rice stuffing and then pile on your favorite mix of stuffings and roll it up.

It is easiest with the steamed leaves - burrito style. For the fresh leaves, you might need a toothpick to keep them together, or just hold them and eat them right away.

OK, all in all this was an orgy of fresh leafy greens, but with lots of color as well.

Besides the general lesson, one of our members, Sylvia, taught us all a lesson by taking the parsley stems home for her own veggie broth. If you have the time, it is worth cooking your own veggie broth. I do it once every few months, when I feel brave, and I fill some ice cube trays with my own veggie broth.

Salad Dressings, Plant-based style

3/2/1 dressing should be 1/2/3 dressing

One favorite dressing remains the 3/2/1 dressing from the Esselstyns, although it may be dubious to some because of the maple syrup. I guess you could use molasses or date sugar instead. From a practical standpoint, of keeping your measuring spoon clean, the sequence should be 1/2/3:

1. 1 tablespoon of maple syrup (molasses, date sugar)
2. 2 tablespoons of Dijon mustard,
3. 3 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar,
4. juice of 2 lemons or limes, or 1 lemon and 1 lime.

And, you can add in whatever spices you want. Sometimes I will chop a tomato finely and add in some chopped onion and make a batch, so it can marinate in the fridge and I have ready made dressing for 2-3 days.

Hummus dressing

Hummus provides an easy route to a creamy plant-based dressing. Here is a recipe, but there are many ways to do it, and if you're in the habit of making your own hummus anyway, you can whip this up in a flash:

• 1/2 cup of hummus
• juice of one lemon or one or two limes, or alternatively 2 tbsp of balsamic or wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp of water
• some liquid aminos and pepper to taste

Depending on your mood, you can again add in chopped parsley or other herbs, or chopped tomato or finely chopped onion - I prefer red onions for salads.

Our June #WFPB Meal Preparation

We made a lot of different things this time, some to demonstrate take-out solutions.

Notes:
The Upton's Naturals barbecued jackfruit is not available locally, you can get it on-line at Thrive or at Amazon.
Savory (sabroso in Spanish) it a spice that is great in dishes with legumes (lentils, beans, etc.) it adds flavor and aids digestion (reduces gas).
Tarragon (Estragon in Spanish) is another spice that works well in our Locro de Lentejas.

Steamed, or boiled kale with sweet potatoes and balsamic 

This is easy to make and the balsamic acts as a preservative, so you can put it in a plastic bag and take it anywhere, all you need is a plastic fork.

strip the kale, and boil in boiling water for 6-7 minutes until soft, or steam for 12-15 minutes.

Separately boil the sweet potatoes and cut in cubes to mix with the kale.

We added in some roasted pepper today. (Unfortunately, our kale was a bit under-cooked.)

Drizzle with balsamic.

Stuffed Collard Greens (Burrito style) is another easy take out dish. You could call it collard green burritos.

Ingredients

collard greens
hummus
boiled basmati rice
green beans
(option) barbecued jackfruit
(option) mushrooms, can be fresh or roasted
kimchi

Preparation

put hummus in the center section of the leaf
add a thin layer of rice
some green beans
some pieces of barbecued jackfruit
dress with kimchi
roll it up, and serve.

If you are going to a picknick, or anywhere where you want to make sure you have your own food, you can package these rolls in a sheet of paper towel towel and saran wrap.

Locro de Lentejas (Lentil soup from Ecuador)

Lentil soup with Cabbage

Ingredients

1 lb whole lentils
1 lb young potatoes (the kind with the thin skin, either yukon gold or redskin), quartered or smaller, depending on the size and personal preference
one small green cabbage, quartered and sliced in 1/4" strips

1 white onion cut up in small pieces,
2-3 large red onions, sliced thin
4 green chilis, sliced thin, with seeds
2 jalapeño peppers, sliced thin (without seeds)
10 cloves of garlic, crushed and chopped fine.
1 or 2 king mushroom cut in strips

1 teaspoon of savory
1 teaspoon of tarragon
5 bay leaves

2 pints of low sodium vegetable stock
3 pints of water
1 Green Cabbage

1/2 cup of cilantro, chopped (leaves only)

Braggs Liquid Aminos, to taste.

Alternatively, dissolve one heaping tablespoon of miso paste in water and add at the end.

Preparation

Dry fry the onions with the chilis and jalapenos and the king mushroom over a medium flame for about 4/5 minutes, stirring constantly, until they got soft and start to brown. Add a splash of veggie broth as needed, so it does not stick to the pan.

Add garlic, the vegetable stock and the water and herbs, the lentils and, after 15-20 minutes, the potatoes. Let cook for another 10-15 minutes, and add the cabbage, cut in strips. Let it cook for another 5-10 mins.

At the end, add some miso, dissolved in water and some chopped cilantro and/ or Braggs Liquid Amino's to taste.
(Notes:

1. Some people would peel the potatoes, but if you buy thin-skinned potatoes, you can easily cook them in the skin, even cut-up: you lose less nutrition that way.)
2. Never boil the miso!

Green Salad

We kept it simple with the salad:

A head of green lettuce,
a red pepper
three tomatoes
some chopped onion
some milled flax seed and some chia seeds
3/2/1 dressing: 3 measures of balsamic, 2 measures of Dijon Mustard, and 1 measure of maple syrup
1 can of black-eyed peas
parsley