I have my CSA box to thank for my new-found love of collard greens and leeks. Here's most of my haul from the recent CSA box - lots of greens, some really delicious seedless satsuma mandarins, and some amazing carrots, and there were also some great kiwis that didn't make it into the picture. There are things that I don't love about the CSA box - they never send me what they say they're going to send me, they give me way too much lettuce, and the produce is very dirty and sometimes full of bugs, among other things. But, on the plus side, it's delivered right to my door, it's organic and fresh and amazingly healthy, it allows me to support local agriculture, and it forces me to break out and try new fruits and vegetables - all good things.
Anyway, I am now in love with both collard greens and leeks. The photo above is of a second batch of collard greens I bought at Whole Foods after liking the first batch from my CSA box so much. How beautiful are those dark leafy greens? One of my favorite things to eat in the whole world.
And leeks - I had never really worked with leeks, and I think I had only really encountered them in potato-leek soup, where they tend to be overpowered by the other ingredients and you don't get a chance to appreciate their amazing leek-ness. They're smooth and buttery and wonderful, and even though you want to think they're going to be like mild, quirky onions, they really have a personality all their own. They're even beautiful as you chop them - fresh and spritely, shades of spring green, so tender on the inside that they almost fall apart. I'm a big fan.
So here's how I cooked the collards and the leeks together:
1. Prepare some vegetable broth: in a big saucepan or soup pot, dissolve a couple of vegan bouillon cubes in 2 cups of water. I really like this bouillon from a company called Rapunzel. Then throw in two bay leaves, because bay leaves make everything better. Let it boil away while you prepare your collard greens.
2. Wash two big bunches of collard greens. Remove the center stems and the larger veiny stems, and roughly chop the remaining greens.
3. Take the bay leaves out of your broth and discard them. Put the chopped collard greens in the broth. Boil for 10 or 15 minutes, stirring frequently.
4. While the greens are cooking, get out three leeks. Cut away the leafy part, leaving just the tender white part. Dice the white part and put the diced pieces in a saute pan with some minced garlic (I really like garlic, so I use 8 or 10 cloves; if you don't like it so much you could scale it back to even just 1 or 2 cloves or maybe even leave it out altogether) and some olive oil. Saute over medium-low heat for about 10 minutes, stirring pretty much constantly so that you don't burn anything.
5. Drain the collard greens, then stir in the leek/garlic mixture.
6. Serve with fragrant jasmine rice. The best way to eat this is to have a little bit of rice, a little bit of collards, and a little bit of leek in every bite. Buttery, nutty, velvety smooth and delicious - and, of course, full of all kinds of great nutrients that will make you strong and powerful and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. I could eat this every single day. I also added some Gardein Chick'n Scallopini patties, which I have blogged about before, for protein and bulk and further deliciousness. This has become one of my favorite dinners. Enjoy!
