Meatless Monday: It’s a Wrap

Here’s a dish I tried a few weeks back when we were enjoying some unseasonably warm days — Asian Collard Wraps — inspired by a recipe I read in a flyer at the Elm City Market. The original recipe is online here. 

Of course, I chose not to follow the recipe exactly.

Here is my version.

Asian Collard Wraps

Serves 6. 

INGREDIENTS

1 bunch collard greens, washed well, large stems removed

2 cups cooked quinoa 

(Make sure the quinoa is drained of any excess liquid)

2 tablespoons tamari

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

1 dash hot sauce

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1 cup carrots, shredded

1 cup cabbage (red or green), shredded

1/2 cup red bell pepper, julienned

2 green onions, thinly sliced

DIRECTIONS

• In a pot of boiling, salted water, blanch the collard leaves, one at a time, for about one minute each. (They will turn bright green.)
• Remove with tongs and place gently on a towel to dry.(These can be prepared in advance. Simply stack on a plate when dry, cover with plastic wrap, and store in the fridge until you are ready to assemble them.)
• Whisk together the lime juice, vinegar, hot sauce, and sesame oil.
• Pour onto the hot quinoa, and let it marinate at least one hour.
• Once cool, store in the refrigerator until ready to use. (This also can be prepared in advance, and will handle better if well chilled.)
• Prepare the vegetables.
• To prepare the wraps, lay out one blanched collard leaf with the stem side towards the bottom.
• Place 2-3 tablespoons of quinoa at the bottom of the leaf. Flatten with the spoon.
• On top of the quinoa pile a few pieces of carrot, cabbage, and pepper.
• Sprinkle with green onions. 
• Fold the bottom of the leaf up over the fillings.
• Fold in each side of the collard leaf and continue to roll upwards until you have what looks like a burrito.
• Set aside and repeat the process until you have used up all the ingredients.  

It’s a wrap!

Turning a bunch of collard greens into a stack of wraps is a little labor intensive.  But once I had the wraps prepared, and the grain marinated, the rest was easy, and I had enough wraps to make the base for several meals (alone as a lunch, with a side for dinner). This satisfying and inexpensive dish will be a great addition to next summer’s repertoire. 

Happy Monday! 

Have a great week. Eat well. 

I often blog on food, food issues, or gardening on Monday in support of Meatless Monday, one of several programs developed in the Healthy Monday project, founded in 2003 in association with Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Communications. Meatless Monday’s goal is “to help reduce meat consumption 15% in order to improve personal health and the health of our planet.”