Black Beans and Collard Greens Soup

I’m back to un-orphan my blog! Here’s a new soup recipe that’s good for cold days, and helping to keep that New Year's resolution to eat more leafy greens. It's also ridiculously easy to make.





Black Beans and Collard Greens Soup

Ingredients:

1 bunch collard greens**
4 cans black beans, or equivalent amount pre-soaked dried beans
1 medium onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon nutmeg
1 tablespoon allspice
Cayenne pepper to taste
6 cups water

**You can substitute any leafy greens for the collards. Kale is also in season this time of year and tough enough to withstand the cooking in this recipe, but collards are a bit milder flavored.

Apparatus:

Knife
LARGE pot with cover
Wooden spoon
Mashing implement


Process:
1)Wash your collard greens extremely well! (Public health note-leafy greens, while being excellent sources of vitamins, are usually covered in dirt. So wash them!)

2)Remove and discard the large center stalk from the greens. Cut the remaining leaves into bite-sized pieces and place into pot.

3)Add beans, garlic, onion, spices, and water to pot. Cover and let simmer for about an hour and a half.

4)Mash beans using mashing implement of choice while still in pot. Stir, and if soup is too thin, continue to cook until soup thickens to desired consistency.

5)Serve and enjoy!


*Notes: This recipe makes quite a large batch, but can easily be halved if you are not a fan of leftovers. I’ve become very fond of cooking only 2 or 3 times a week and eating that food for days at a time as a matter of efficiency. This recipe would also probably work well in a slow cooker.



For anyone who did not grow up in Georgia, and therefore might not know what a collard green looks like off hand, the above is a picture of collard greens.

Swiss Chard Rice Pilaf

A friend recently offered me her share in a co-op for a week, and I wound up with more leafy greens then I knew what to do with. Here is my first attempt at a Swiss chard recipe ( I’ve included a picture of the greens raw for easy identification)-I hope you enjoy!



Swiss Chard Rice Pilaf:


Ingredients:

1 pound Swiss chard
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ cup pearl onions (frozen)
3 cloves garlic, minced
½ tsp fennel
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp sage
¼ cup chopped mushrooms
1 ½ cups uncooked brown rice
½ cup chopped parsley
2 ½ cups water
1 tsp black pepper

Apparatus:

Knife (serrated if available, trust me it makes it much easier)
Deep pot
Wooden Spoon

Process:

1)Rinse Swiss chard thoroughly under running water. Grab 1 stalk of Swiss chard in non-dominant hand, and with other hand, wrap hand firmly around stalk and pull quickly to effectively remove all leaves from stalk. (Minor side note: Yes you will feel slightly ridiculous during this process. You could opt to simply use a knife to remove leaves from stem. I found that this method is easier and faster.) Repeat process until all leaves are removed from stems and discard stems.
2)Chop leaves into small pieces
3)Place oil in pot and add onions, mushrooms, garlic, fennel, sage, and coriander. Saute until onions are soft and garlic is fragrant.
4)Add rice, and stir briefly to coat.
5)Add Swiss chard, parsley, and water. Stir, then cover, and leave for 20 minutes or until rice has absorbed all water.
6)Add black pepper, give a final stir, and serve!

*This works well with parmesan cheese added as a garnish as well!*




Swiss Chard-prior to being de-stemmed and chopped: So many pretty colors!!