Collards: The green that keeps on giving

(Photo credit: Mother Earth News)

 Last year, inspired by the Ros Trial garden, I planted a few collard green plants. With their giant, sturdy dark green leaves they added some nice drama to the vegetable garden. Plus, the kids liked to use them as roof tiles on their forts. We ate our way through a portion of the plants' produce, but I thought I'd skip planting them this year. I apparently didn't pull out one of the plants during my spring garden clean up because, miraculously, it seems that these collard greens are acting as perennials. Or perhaps it was our mild winter last year that gave the plant a second chance.

Either way, we've been eating collard greens in a lot of dinners recently and a favorite use for them is this butternut squash chowder (adapted from Slow Cooker Revolution from America's Test Kitchen).

Butternut Squash Chowder
Serves 6-8 (but everyone wants seconds, so make extra if you are feeding more than 6)
Cooking time 4-6 hours on low (in the slow cooker)
Vegetarian adaptation: Leave out the bacon and replace the chicken broth with 3 more cups vegetable broth.

Tools
large slow cooker
10-12 inch skillet
tin foil
advanced planning - you want to have all the ingredients in the slow cooker around noon or 1 pm for a 6 pm dinner (unless you have a fancy timer on your slow cooker to switch it to warm).

Ingredients
1/4 lb. bacon, minced
1 onion, minced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon hot pepper flakes
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/3 cup flour
3 cups chicken broth
4 cups vegetable broth (I like Repunzel brand vegetable bouillon)
3 lbs butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/2 inch dice.
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 bunch collard green leaves, stemmed and sliced into 1/4 inch ribbons, then sliced again across the ribbons to make them bite sized
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon brown sugar
grated Parmesan cheese for serving
Salt and pepper

1. In a skillet, cook the bacon until crisp.  Add the onion and garlic, basil, nutmeg and pepper flakes and cook on medium-high until softened.  Add the flour and stir for 1 minute.  Add 2 cups of chicken broth and scrape up all the brown bits on the bottom of the pan.  Transfer to slow cooker.

2. Add to the slow cooker: the remaining 5 cups of combined chicken and vegetable broth, half the squash, and bay leaves.  Get a large piece of tin foil and lay it out on the counter: place the other half of the squash on the top half of the foil, add oil and season with salt and pepper.  Fold the bottom of the foil up and seal the top end, then fold in the sides to make a well sealed packet that will rest on the top of soup, inside the slow cooker.  Cover and cook for 4-6 hours on low.

3. Remove foil packet and place on a plate.  Remove bay leaves and stir in the collard greens.  Cook for another 20 minutes.

4. Open the foil packet, watching out for steam.  Empty the squash and juices into the pot.  Add cream, brown sugar and cook for another 5 minutes until heated.  Season with salt and pepper and serve with cheese.

Coconut tapioca pudding

I admit it, I was feeling generous today. Tonight I asked the kids if they wanted coconut shakes or tapioca pudding for dessert. We had already spent the early evening watching The Tale of Despereaux and eating popcorn and sensing that I was in an easy going mood they hoped for the best and asked for both coconut shakes and pudding. You already know what happened next, right? So, here it is the newly invented and kid approved coconut tapioca pudding. It cooks up in a hurry, isn't too sweet, and is rich enough to be satisfying in small quantities.

Coconut Tapioca Pudding
1-16 oz. can Coconut Cream
1 c. milk
2/3 c. instant or granulated tapioca
1/4 t. kosher salt
2 eggs
1/4 c. white sugar
1/2 t. vanilla extract

Mix coconut cream, milk, tapioca and salt together in a sauce pan. Bring to a boil over medium heat and stir frequently until the pudding thickens, approximately 3 minutes. In a separate bowl, mix eggs sugar and vanilla. Add a large spoonful of the hot tapioca to the egg mixture bowl and mix well to prevent curdling. Then add the egg mixture into the tapioca in the sauce pan and cook for another 5 minutes on low heat, stirring frequently. Let cool a bit, but eat slightly warm.

Adapted from The Vegetarian Mother's Cookbook: Whole Foods To Nourish Pregnant And Breastfeeding Women - And Their Families

Pasta with Sweet Potato, Chickpeas and Feta

This is the kind of dish that pleases me at several levels. It has lots of flavor, is kid friendly, inexpensive and seasonally appropriate. And it's pretty. But you can't see that because everyone was so hungry that we ate everything before I could get a picture.

Pasta with sweet potato, chickpeas and feta

1 lb pasta (I like bigger shapes for this, like rotini or penne)

1-2 T. butter or olive oil, or a combination

1 large sweet potato, diced into 1/4 inch pieces

1/2 large red onion, chopped

1 15 oz. can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

3 cloves garlic, minced or put through a garlic press

4 oz. feta cheese, crumbled

1. Heat water to a boil. Salt generously and add pasta
2. Melt butter/oil in pan. Saute onion and sweet potato until caramelized a bit and potato is just soft all the way through (8-10 minutes). I put the lid on the pan for part of the early cooking, then take it off for the last few minutes.
3. Add garlic and stir until fragrant (30 seconds)
4. Add chickpeas and cook until heated through.
5. Drain pasta, reserving 1/2 c up cooking water.
6. Mix pasta with vegetable mix, add feta and as much of the hot pasta water as you need to make it all creamy.

Pork roast: three ways

One morning last week, I was running out the door and remembered at the last minute to toss the pork roast into the crock pot. In my coat and hat, with the baby in one arm, I grabbed the pork roast from the fridge, unwrapped it, flicked some salt and pepper on, hit the switch and left for the day. Two minute meal prep is the best. We had dinner for three nights from that 2 minutes of prep work.

Night one: barbecue pork sandwiches

Night two: pork burritos

Night three: provencal pork stew

Here are the recipes:

Barbecue Pork Sandwiches

Pork butt or shoulder roast

1 bottle of barbecue sauce

Hamburger buns or hard rolls

1. Place pork in a crock pot. Lightly salt and pepper and cook for 8 hours on low
2. Take a portion of roast pork and break it apart with a fork. Mix in sauce to taste.
3. Serve on bun/roll with more sauce if desired.

This meal goes particularly well with a simple coleslaw.

Pork Burritos

left-over pork roast

tortilla shells

rice (cooked)

shredded cheese

avocado

cilantro

lime

red onions

sour cream

whatever else you like on your burritos

1. Heat tortillas either individually over open gas flame (use tongs...your fingers will thank you) or wrap several tortillas in tin foil and heat for 15 minutes in the over at 300F.
2. have each person determine their topping preference.

Provencal Pork Stew

left-over pork roast

1-2 large cans whole tomatoes

1 can white beans, drained (or cook your own ahead of time)

2 carrots, diced

2 celery stalks, diced

1 small onion, diced

chicken broth

4 cloves garlic, pressed in garlic press or crushed and finely minced

wine (preferably a dry white, but red wine works too)

herbs d'Provence

Salt and pepper

1. Saute the onion, carrots and celery until onions become slightly translucent, about 10 minutes. Add garlic and saute for 30 seconds, until fragrant, then add the wine. You could also replace wine with broth, if you prefer.
2. Crush the tomatoes lightly with your hands or the back of a spoon as you add them to the other sautéed vegetables. Add beans and 1 tsp. herbs d'provence or to taste. Cook until slightly thickened but carrots and celery are still slightly crisp, about 15-20 minutes.
3. Add salt and pepper to taste and add pork and heat through.

Winter squash and swiss chard lasagna

Ingredients
1 largish winter squash (app. 3 lbs) cut in half and seeds scooped out
15 oz ricotta cheese
1/4 tsp. each red pepper flakes and nutmeg
1 bunch swiss chard chopped, stems and leaves separated
2 tbsp. butter
2 tbsp.flour
2 c. milk, heated in microwave for 2 minutes
1 box no boil lasagna noodles
4 large garlic cloves, chopped finely or crushed through garlic press
shredded Italian blend cheese (or combination of mozzerella and parmesean
olive oil
salt

Instructions

1. Roast for 1 hour (or until soft) squash at 375 degrees. Place cut side, rubbed with olive oil, on a rimmed cookie sheet.
2. When squash is done, let cool then peel skin off. Puree in food processor.
3. Make a bechemel sauce by melting butter, whisking in flour and cooking until light gold color. While whisking, poor in hot milk slowly and cook over med-low heat until slightly thickened. Set aside.
   
4. Mix squash puree, ricotta, salt
   
5. Saute chard stems with garlic and a bit of olive oil until softened. Add chopped chard leaves and saute until wilted. Add to ricotta mixture.
6. Start your layers in a buttered 9x13 pan: Bechemel sauce, noodles, squash-ricotta-chard mix. I usually get 2-3 layers of each. Top with cheese. Cover with tin foil.
7. Bake at 375 for 45 minutes, remove tin foil and bake for additional 10 minutes.