Pan Roasted Tomatoes with Quinoa — The Collard Leaf That Changed My Mind

The fall garden is feeding us now. Collard greens every week, turnip greens alternating, kale that I use in soups and stews and occasionally in a salad if I'm feeling modern. The collards this year are the best I've grown — giant leaves, deep green, tender even before they cook because the soil is right and the weather has been kind. I pulled a bundle on Monday and held them up and they were so beautiful I almost took a picture, except I don't know how to take pictures with the iPad and by the time I figured it out the moment would have passed.

I made collard green wraps this week. Now, before you say anything — I know. Collard green wraps sound like something from a magazine that Dot Henderson would never read. But listen. You take a big collard leaf, blanch it for thirty seconds to make it flexible, and you fill it with rice and beans and a little hot sauce and cheese. Roll it up like a burrito. It's good, baby. It's the collard green meeting the modern world halfway, and I am proof that a sixty-two-year-old woman can change. Slowly. With conditions. And only if the filling includes hot sauce.

Big Mike's daughter had a baby this week. A little girl named Destiny. Big Mike — six foot four, hands like catcher's mitts — showed me a picture on his phone and his eyes were wet and his voice was shaking. I said, "Mike, you're a grandfather." He said, "Miss Dot, I don't know how to be a grandfather." I said, "You do what you've always done. You show up. You show up and you love them and you feed them and that's all there is to it." He hugged me, which is like being hugged by a refrigerator, and I patted his back and told him it was going to be wonderful. It is. Being a grandparent is the reward for surviving parenthood.

Earl and I played dominoes Saturday night. We haven't played dominoes in years — the set was in the back of the closet under a box of Christmas ornaments — but the evening was cool and the TV was boring and I said, "Earl, you want to play dominoes?" His face lit up. We played for two hours at the kitchen table with sweet tea and peanuts and the windows open. He won three games. I won two. He said, "I've still got it." I said, "You've still got luck. That's different." He grinned. I let him have it.

Now go on and feed somebody.

Those big beautiful collard leaves I pulled on Monday weren’t going to just sit there looking pretty, and once I had the idea in my head I couldn’t shake it — so here’s the filling I landed on, built around pan-roasted tomatoes and quinoa because if I’m meeting the modern world halfway, I might as well go all the way there. The hot sauce is non-negotiable, and the cheese is what makes it Southern, and if Big Mike’s new granddaughter grows up eating something like this I will consider that a personal victory.

Collard Green Wraps with Pan-Roasted Tomatoes and Quinoa

Prep Time: 10 min | Cook Time: 20 min | Total Time: 30 min | Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 8 large collard green leaves, stems trimmed flat
• 1 cup quinoa, rinsed
• 2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
• 1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
• 1 can (15 oz) black beans or pinto beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin
• Salt and black pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup shredded pepper jack or sharp cheddar cheese
• Hot sauce, to taste (Dorothy says don’t be shy)
• Optional: sour cream or plain Greek yogurt for serving

Instructions

1. Cook the quinoa. Combine rinsed quinoa and vegetable broth in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 15 minutes until liquid is absorbed. Fluff with a fork and set aside.
2. Blanch the collard leaves. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Working in batches, submerge each collard leaf for 30 seconds until bright green and pliable. Transfer immediately to a bowl of ice water, then lay flat on a clean towel to dry.
3. Pan-roast the tomatoes. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add tomatoes cut-side down. Cook undisturbed 3–4 minutes until blistered and beginning to caramelize. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.
4. Build the filling. In the same skillet, heat remaining tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and cook 1 minute. Add drained beans, smoked paprika, and cumin. Stir to coat and warm through, about 3 minutes. Fold in the cooked quinoa and roasted tomatoes. Taste and adjust seasoning.
5. Assemble the wraps. Lay a blanched collard leaf flat, smooth side down. Spoon a generous 1/2 cup of filling onto the lower third of the leaf. Sprinkle with shredded cheese and a few dashes of hot sauce. Fold in the sides, then roll up firmly from the bottom like a burrito.
6. Serve. Arrange wraps seam-side down on a platter. Serve immediately with extra hot sauce and sour cream or Greek yogurt on the side if you like.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 340 | Protein: 14g | Fat: 11g | Carbs: 48g | Fiber: 9g | Sodium: 390mg