Collard leaves filled with wonderfully seasoned vegetables and rice, baked in a luscious tomato sauce - the perfect (and perfectly healthy) comfort dish.
Prep Time38 minutesmins
Cook Time50 minutesmins
Total Time1 hourhr28 minutesmins
Servings: 8rolls
Author: All recipes on jenniferskitchen.com are property of jennifer's kitchen and cannot be republished without written permission.
Ingredients
8 - 10small to mediumcollard leaves(slightly bigger than your hand)
Cut approximately one inch off the bottom of each leaf. (See pictures in post.)This part of the leaf is more rigid than the rest of the leaf, so cutting it off makes the leaves easily to roll. These bottom ends can be finely minced and added to the filling if desired.
Bring approximately 3/4 cup water to boil in pot. Add whole collard leaves, reduce heat to medium-low and steam for about 8 minutes or until tender.If your collards are not young and tender, you may want to steam them longer. If they aren't steamed long enough, the collard rolls will be tough.Remove from pot to cool.
Dice onions very small. (I avoid using a food processor to dice onions because it tends to make them bitter.) Set aside.
Chop sunflower seeds in a food processor and place in a bowl.
Chop carrots in the processor and add to sunflower seeds.
Mince garlic in the processor and add to carrots and sunflower seeds.
Place rice and seasonings in processor and pulse just until rice is chopped.
Add diced onions, garlic, sunflower seeds, and carrots to food processor and pulse several times or until mixture begins to stick together. This helps the filling hold together in the collard roll.NOTE: The goal is to chop and mix ingredients, not puree them.
Pour tomato sauce into an 8-inch x 12-inch inch baking dish or casserole dish.
Measure approximately 1/4 cup of rice mixture onto bottom half of a steamed collard leaf. Fold up bottom of leaf over rice, fold in sides, and roll up. (See step-by-step pictorial in post.)Place stuffed collard leaf into tomato sauce in baking dish. Repeat with remaining collard greens.
Cover. Bake at 350°F for 50 minutes.
Notes
Stuffed collards freeze well.Yield: 8 to 10 rollsTo freeze before baking:Place stuffed collards in a sealed container and freeze. When ready to serve, bake at 350 for 1 hour and 10 minutes.To freeze after baking:Bake as directed, place in freezer (in a sealed container). When ready to serve, remove from freezer, place in oven (covered), and reheat at 350°F for 30 minutes.