Collard-Wrapped Enchiladas

Y’all, I came up with this recipe for our local CSA. Collards can be a hard sell, even for true Southerners. My grandmother pan-fried collards and let them simmer for (what seemed like) hours until they were tender and almost creamy. There was a healthy dose of garlic in them and we always topped them with red pepper flakes and apple cider vinegar. If I took a poll, I’ll bet many Southern cooks prepared them in a similar fashion and most include fat-back or hamhock in the cooking.

My daughter really dislikes collards. Many years ago, I picked up ‘a collard’ from a local farmer for Thanksgiving. The ‘collard’ was an enormous head that barely fit in the passenger seat of my Jeep. When I got it home and rescued it from the confinement of the seatbelt, I thought my daughter’s jaw was going to drop to her knees. She’d never seen such a thing and it was a sight to behold. I made her help me remove the leaves and clean them, not an easy or quick task. She said, ‘Mom, if I help you do this, please tell me you won’t make me eat this. too’. LOL

She was about 12 at the time and still doesn’t care for collards. This visceral reaction has led me on a journey to find different, more palatable ways to use these massive, tough leaves. Because they are tough, you need to cook them well or it’ll feel like you’re chewing cardboard. They can be quite bitter, so gently cooking them over time is often used as a means of tenderizing the leaves and softening the flavor.

This recipe double cooks the leaves and adds lots of complimentary flavors that make the collards themselves more of a background structural element rather than a main flavor.

While this recipe looks intimidating, it’s really not that complicated. I hope you’ll give it a try, especially if you’re eager to try collards but are daunted by their reputation.

Ingredients:

I small bunch of large-leaved collards, rinsed and dried, with leaves removed from center rib

1 large bunch of green onions, chopped including 4” of green stems, OR 1.5 cups chopped white onion

Optional: 1 hot pepper such as Padron, Fresno or serrano, finely diced

2 small seeded and peeled butternut squash cut into 1” cubes, about 1.5 cups

2 cloves minced garlic, about 1/2 Tbs

1 Tbs olive oil

1 15-oz can black beans, drained and rinsed

1/2 tsp ancho chili powder

1 tsp ground cumin

Optional: 1/2 tsp sumac

1 10-oz can enchilada sauce

2 cups Mexican cheese blend

Optional: Prepared chunky salsa

Instructions:

Heat a large pot of salted water to a boil. Prepare a large bowl of ice water.
Blanch collard leaves in boiling water for 1 min. Remove from boiling water and immediately plunge in ice water bath to stop cooking. Remove leaves from ice bath and drain on paper towels.
Heat olive oil in a large cast iron or non-stick skillet.
Add onions and peppers to hot skillet; cook 2-3 min until glistening. Add garlic; cook 2 min more.
Add chopped squash to skillet; stir to combine.
Add cumin, chili powder and sumac. Stir to combine and cook 7-8 min until squash is tender-crisp. If contents begins to stick, add water, 1 Tbs at a time to loosen.
Add drained black beans to skillet, stirring to combine.
Heat oven to 375-degrees.
Dry collard leaves and lay out on a flat surface. You can fold the leaves in half lengthwise, or use half of a leaf for each enchilada.
Spoon ~1/4 cup of the bean and squash mixture on the collard leaf and roll up.
Continue making enchiladas until all collard leaves and/or squash-bean mixture is exhausted.
Place rolled up enchiladas in a casserole dish.
Pour enchilada sauce over enchiladas in casserole dish.
Cover dish and cook in 375-degree oven for 20-22 min until sauce is bubbling around edges.
Remove casserole from oven, remove cover and top with cheese. Replace cover for 3 min to allow cheese to melt.
Plate enchiladas and top with salsa if desired.

Serves 4

Note: You can increase volume by adding a can of fire-roasted tomatoes to the skillet mixture. You can also add crumbled sausage or ground beef or substitute the meat for the beans.