Recipe featuring collard greens: Chinese stuffed rolls

 

This yummy, easy dish got six YUMS out of the Sleichter squad today. John said it was even better than a corn dog, which is about as high of praise as you can get from our boy. 

Ingredients:

1 pound pork sausage

2 garlic cloves, minced

5-6 stems cilantro, chopped

1 cup steamed white rice

2 eggs

3 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon salt

12 collard green leaves

1/3 cup sweet chili sauce

1. Wash the collard greens. Remove the stems from the end, and pare down the remaining stem on the leaf, to make it easier to bed. 

2. Bring a pan full of water to simmer. Blanch the collard green leaves in the simmering water for 3-5 seconds until dark green and softened. Set aside.

3. In a large bowl, mix together the sausage, egg, rice, garlic, cilantro, soy sauce, salt, and worcestershire sauce. 

4. Taking one collard green at a time, place the leaf on a flat surface. Place approximately 1/3 cup of sausage filling in the middle of each leaf. Fold the leaf over the sausage like an envelope. Place the stuffed leaves seam side down in a 13x9 pain. Repeat with remaining leaves.

5. Pour chili sauce over leaves. 

6. Bake stuffed collard greens in oven for 30 minutes at 400 degrees Fahrenheits, or until internal temperature reaches 160 degrees. Enjoy!

Recipe featuring collard greens: Chinese stuffed rolls

30 Days of Salad, Day 1: Roll-ups

Most of us have eaten our fill of delicious pies, desserts, and cream-filled appetizers... or is that just our house? The calorie overload was delicious and worth it. But, with that in mind, now is a great time to start a salad spree. So, the Sleichter squad goal is a salad every day for 30 days.

But, since we rarely do things "normal", we are starting the salad spree with lettuce roll-ups. Except without lettuce. Like I said, not normal. 

Recipes are just a suggestion for most of our meals, but it is nice to have a starting point. Lettuce roll-ups are made for improvising, as you can use about any green and fill it with about any filling. Usually, we do assorted chop veggies, cut up fried chicken, and your favorite salad dressing.

For today's recipe, we started with PF Chang's Chicken Lettuce Wraps. But, we had frozen chicken strips instead of ground chicken. I made the sauce in a saucepan, and substituted soy faux peanut butter for the hoison sauce. And we used collard greens instead of lettuce. It was yummy and kid-approved. We added potstickers and egg rolls, to make it feel more like a Chinese restaurant meal. 

To prepare the collard greens for roll-up, bring a pot of water to boil. Cut off the stem on the collard green leaves, and shave off about half of the thick middle rib of the collard green, so it isn't as thick and easier to roll. Rinse off the leaves. Dip them into the boiling water for about 5 seconds, just until they start to soften. Remove and let cool slightly, while you blanch the remaining leaves. They are now ready to fill.

Collard greens aren't a nutritional powerhouse; their only benefit is added calcium and potassium. But, they are a great filler, a low cal, fat free option to fill you up and keep you from eating other foods... like those cream-filled appetizers and pies.

LS 

30 Days of Salad, Day 1: Roll-ups