Collards Galore - Recipes from Newbury College Students

Chef/Teacher Paige Haringa
helps with harvest!

Chef Paige Haringa, Faculty at the Newbury College Culinary School, has been a longtime supporter of Waltham Fields; she was a shareholder for a few years and worked with her students to cater Sprout in 2012 and 2013, our annual silent auction fundraiser to raise money for the Farm's food access and education work. This year, Paige and her students from Newbury College's Ethics of Eating class came to Waltham Fields to learn more about our farm's food access work. Paige and her students harvested collards from the fields and created several different cheap and easy recipes to sample at our Outreach Market (a special weekly program providing organic produce to low-income households). Paige's students were enthusiastic and inventive with their recipes, and Outreach Market participants loved their fresh take on collard greens; many more of them ended up going home with collards after sampling these delicious recipes. Thanks so much to Paige and her students, it was wonderful hosting them at the Outreach Market this year!

Newbury College Culinary Students in the Ethics of Eating class

 

Here are the 5 delicious Collard Greens recipes the students made...

Give them a try!

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Collard Greens Salad with Ginger Dressing & Seed Brittle

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated peeled ginger

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, divided

5 teaspoons honey, divided

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

Kosher salt

4 tablespoons raw sunflower seeds

2 tablespoons raw pumpkin seeds (pepitas)

2 tablespoons raw sesame seeds

1 bunch collard greens, center ribs and stems removed, leaves thinly sliced

1 fuji apple sliced, tossed in lemon juice

 

To make the dressing, whisk vinegar, ginger, 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes, and 1 tsp honey in a large bowl. Whisk in oils; season with salt.

Combine remaining 4 tsp honey, remaining red pepper flakes, and 3 Tbsp water in a small bowl. Toast sunflower, pumpkin, and sesame seeds in 350 degree oven, spread out on a sheet pan. Toast until sesame seeds are lightly browned. Transfer the nuts to a saute pan over medium heat. Add honey mixture and cook, stirring, until seeds stick together in small clumps, about 3 minutes. Scrape seed mixture onto parchment paper; let cool. Break into small clusters.

Toss greens with enough dressing to coat in a large bowl; season with salt. Squeeze and rub collards with your hands to tenderize until glossing and darkened in color, about 30 seconds. Drizzle salad with more dressing and serve topped with seeds and apple slices.

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Collard Green Pasta

8 oz pasta 

2 tbsp olive oil, divided

4 cloves garlic, minced and divied

1/2 cup panko bread crumbs

1 tbsp nutritional yeast

1 tsp red pepper flakes (or less/more to taste)

1 large bunch collard greens

1 large lemon, zest and juice

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil; add the pasta and cook until al dente according to package directions. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup of cooked pasta water.

Heat a large non-stick pan over medium heat. 

Heat 1 tbsp olive oil and the garlic. Stir quickly so it doesn't burn, about 30 seconds, and then add the bread crumbs. Cook for 3-5 minutes, stirring often until golden brown. Add in the nutritional yeast and red pepper flakes. Remove the bread crumbs from the pan and wipe clean.

Remove the stems from the collard greens and stack the leaves on top of one another. Tightly roll, like a cigar. Starting at the end, thinly slice the collard leaves. 

Heat the remaining 1 tbsp. oil in the large non-stick pan. Add the remaining garlic clove and the collard leaves with a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook until the collards are wilted and cooked through. 

Add in the pasta and stir together. If the pasta is too dry add in a little of the reserved pasta water.

Add in the reserved bread crumbs, lemon juice and zest. Season to taste. 

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Collard Green Vodka Rotini

10 oz rotini pasta, dried

1 oz sage, torn up into small pieces

2 large collard green leaves, in 1-inch thick ribbons

1 oz chopped parsley

1/2 small yellow onion, chopped

1 tsp red pepper flakes, less to taste

3/4 cup grape tomatoes, halved

2 tbsp butter, to saute

4 oz vodka, any variety

2 garlic cloves, sliced thinly

4 oz Parmesan cheese, grated, plus more for garnish

1 tsp extra-virgin olive oil for garnish

Bring a pot of water to boil, season with salt. Once boiling, add pasta, cook to desired firmness. 

Heat a separate pan to medium low heat. Add butter, cook until frothy (~1 minute), add in onions and let sweat for one minute. Add garlic and collard greens and cook until tender (~4 minutes). Add in red pepper flakes and tomatoes, cook for about 3 minutes.

Add vodka, increase heat to high and cook off alcohol (~2 minutes). Return to heat to medium low. Once alcohol is cooked off, add in pasta, stir into sauce and add fresh herbs. Grate in Parmesan cheese, fold into sauce.

Garnish with a drizzle of oil and more grated Parmesan on top.

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Collard Green Pasta Salad

2 cups bow-tie pasta

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 cup of onions, small dice

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 small yellow squash, cut into 1/4" half moons

4 cups collard greens, stemmed and sliced

1 red bell pepper, diced

2 small vine tomatoes, diced

2 tsp oregano, minced

2 tsp basil, minced

1 tsp cilantro, minced

1/3 cup lemon juice

salt & pepper

crumbled feta cheese

Cook pasta to desired firmness. Strain and let cool. Do not rinse. 

Meanwhile, heat a saute pan and add a couple tablespoons of olive oil. Cook onions until translucent. Add garlic and yellow squash and cook for about 1 minute. Add collard greens and saute until tender. 

In a bowl mix the pasta with the cooked ingredients. Add the chopped tomato. dd the rest of the olive oil, chopped herbs and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Crumble feta over the top and serve.

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Rice & Tofu Collarito

Rice: 

1 cup basmati rice

1 jalapeno, small dice

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

1 lime, zest and juice

 

Veggie filling: 

1 zucchini/yellow squash, diced

1 red pepper, diced

1/2 yellow onion, diced

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp coriander

1 tbsp tumeric

1 pound extra firm tofu, crumbled 

salt & pepper to taste

 

Red pepper dip:

2 red peppers, fire roasted

1/4 cup walnuts, toasted

1 tsp honey

1/2 cup olive oil

 

Other: 

5 collard green leaves

1 tomato, sliced

Boil two cups of water, add rice, jalapeno, and garlic. Bring back to a boil, then turn to low heat and cover. Once cooked add in lime juice, lime zest and cilantro. Saute veggies in two tbsp oil until softened, add crumbled tofu and spices, heat through. Season as desired. For the red pepper dip, add fire roasted peppers, walnuts and honey to a food processor. With machine running, add olive oil slowly until a smooth paste forms. Season as desired.

Blanch collard greens until just cooked, about 30 seconds to 1 minute, and shock in ice water. Cut out the large vein and cut leaves into 4 equal pieces. Place 1 slice of tomato, two tablespoons of rice and one tablespoon of veggie and tofu mix in the center of the collard leaf. Roll up as if making a burrito. Dip in red pepper sauce and enjoy!