Collard Green Enchiladas

You'll see some mega-big greens in your Fresh Fork Market shares: jumbo kale, collards, broccoli leaves and more. They make wonderful wraps for sandwiches and baked dishes, like these Collard Green Enchiladas.
Enchiladas are a great go-to mid-week meal, because you can really put anything you've got inside the wrap. Here we're using beans, ground meat, shredded zucchini and kohlrabi with radish green paste, but feel free to experiment!

1 bunch large-leafed greens, like collard greens
1/2 cup green paste* (ingredients listed directly below), or any pesto
 Sunflower or olive oil
 Greens (spinach or leaves from radishes, kohlrabi, or broccoli)
 Garlic scapes or Spring Onions
 1/2-1 tsp salt
Filling ideas (you'll need a 4-6 cups total fillings, depending on how many leaves and how big they are. Extras make great leftovers, or can be baked into a quiche the next day!)
 1/2 - 1 lb ground beef or sausage, browned
 1 cup cooked beans
 1 quart (4 cups, 2 pints) tomato sauce
 2 cups shredded, grated or julienned veggies: zucchini, kohlrabi, radishes, carrots, daikons, kale
 Grated cheese (your preference)

Prepare the Fillings
1

Turn the oven to 375 and bring a pot of water to a boil. Fill another bowl with ice water.

2

Make your green paste (or skip this step and use some pesto.) Sauté a bunch of greens (spinach or radish, kohlrabi or broccoli leaves) in a little bit of oil till softened. Transfer cooked greens to food processor along with some garlic scapes or the long green stems from some green onions. Add in a little salt, and pulse until all chopped up, and then turn to low and gently drizzle in some oil. You're going for the consistency of pesto.

3

Prep all the rest of your fillings: beans cooked, meat browned, veggies shredded, grated or julienned. This little julienne/peeler makes quick work of vegetables, or you can use the shredder blade of a food processor.

Prepare the Leaf Wraps
4

Now, prep your leaves. Give the leaves a quick rinse and pat dry. Flip them over, so the strong central rib of the leaf faces up. Always cutting away from yourself, slice your knife flush with the leaf from the top to the edge where the leaf meets the stalk, at an angle, cutting off the majority of the stalk. Flip over and set aside while you finish the pile. For a more extended picture tutorial, click here.

5

Blanch the leaves by dropping them in boiling water for 60-90 seconds, and then quickly transfer them to the ice bath for the same amount of time. Wrap in a kitchen towel to dry, and then set up your filling station and your baking dish.

6

In a large square or rectangular baking dish, pour in about 1.5-2 cups of tomato sauce, or if you're feeling really DIY, try this Enchilada Sauce instead.

Assemble the Enchiladas
7

Place a leaf facing up on a cutting board (the side where you sliced off the rib is facing down.) Spread a spoonful of your green paste or pesto to the right of the stem vertically, leaving a little space at the top and bottom of the leaf. Then stack some beans or browned meat and some julienned veggies. Don't overstuff.

8

Now that they're stuffed, roll them up. Fold up the top and bottom of the leaf first.

9

Then, fold the right side of the leaf (the side closer to the fillings) over top of the fillings and the folded top and bottom.

10

Continue to roll to the left until you have a nice little package.

Baking the Enchiladas
11

Nestle the little bundles in the sauce, and when you've made all the enchiladas, pour the remaining sauce over top. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, and then sprinkle on any cheese (if using), and bake/broil for 2 minutes longer. Serve warm with some extra sauce spooned over top.

Ingredients

1 bunch large-leafed greens, like collard greens
1/2 cup green paste* (ingredients listed directly below), or any pesto
 Sunflower or olive oil
 Greens (spinach or leaves from radishes, kohlrabi, or broccoli)
 Garlic scapes or Spring Onions
 1/2-1 tsp salt
Filling ideas (you'll need a 4-6 cups total fillings, depending on how many leaves and how big they are. Extras make great leftovers, or can be baked into a quiche the next day!)
 1/2 - 1 lb ground beef or sausage, browned
 1 cup cooked beans
 1 quart (4 cups, 2 pints) tomato sauce
 2 cups shredded, grated or julienned veggies: zucchini, kohlrabi, radishes, carrots, daikons, kale
 Grated cheese (your preference)

Directions

Prepare the Fillings
1

Turn the oven to 375 and bring a pot of water to a boil. Fill another bowl with ice water.

2

Make your green paste (or skip this step and use some pesto.) Sauté a bunch of greens (spinach or radish, kohlrabi or broccoli leaves) in a little bit of oil till softened. Transfer cooked greens to food processor along with some garlic scapes or the long green stems from some green onions. Add in a little salt, and pulse until all chopped up, and then turn to low and gently drizzle in some oil. You're going for the consistency of pesto.

3

Prep all the rest of your fillings: beans cooked, meat browned, veggies shredded, grated or julienned. This little julienne/peeler makes quick work of vegetables, or you can use the shredder blade of a food processor.

Prepare the Leaf Wraps
4

Now, prep your leaves. Give the leaves a quick rinse and pat dry. Flip them over, so the strong central rib of the leaf faces up. Always cutting away from yourself, slice your knife flush with the leaf from the top to the edge where the leaf meets the stalk, at an angle, cutting off the majority of the stalk. Flip over and set aside while you finish the pile. For a more extended picture tutorial, click here.

5

Blanch the leaves by dropping them in boiling water for 60-90 seconds, and then quickly transfer them to the ice bath for the same amount of time. Wrap in a kitchen towel to dry, and then set up your filling station and your baking dish.

6

In a large square or rectangular baking dish, pour in about 1.5-2 cups of tomato sauce, or if you're feeling really DIY, try this Enchilada Sauce instead.

Assemble the Enchiladas
7

Place a leaf facing up on a cutting board (the side where you sliced off the rib is facing down.) Spread a spoonful of your green paste or pesto to the right of the stem vertically, leaving a little space at the top and bottom of the leaf. Then stack some beans or browned meat and some julienned veggies. Don't overstuff.

8

Now that they're stuffed, roll them up. Fold up the top and bottom of the leaf first.

9

Then, fold the right side of the leaf (the side closer to the fillings) over top of the fillings and the folded top and bottom.

10

Continue to roll to the left until you have a nice little package.

Baking the Enchiladas
11

Nestle the little bundles in the sauce, and when you've made all the enchiladas, pour the remaining sauce over top. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, and then sprinkle on any cheese (if using), and bake/broil for 2 minutes longer. Serve warm with some extra sauce spooned over top.

Collard Green Enchiladas

1 Comment

  1. Adam on June 16, 2016 at 2:18 am

    Made this hoping to use as much as my weekly share as possible. For the green sauce I sliced up and sauteed the kohlrabi and radish bulbs, and used raw garlic scapes. For the filling I used 1# ground beef and 1# italian sausage, which was way too much for the number of collard greens I had (about 8). I sliced up some zucchini really thin for the filling, and diced up some onions. For the sauce I used a generic red enchilada sauce. I didn’t use any beans (no space for the beans I did buy) and I wasn’t able to actually roll these up so they were kind of like boats with an open top. Topped them with mexican blend cheese.

    After cooking my first thought was “whoa, these look gross.” When I went to eat them today I thought “yeah, these look gross.” After adding a little hot sauce all I can say is HOLY CRAP, these are awesome! Seriously, a ton of flavors I’m not familiar with but it came out surprisingly well. Can’t wait to try out more of the recommended recipes this season!

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