Talk about class stereotypes. I’m totally guilty of this one.

I avoided Collard Greens for years because it brought up images of The Beverly Hillbillies drinking moonshine and cooking up some victuals with collard greens, fatback, and possum road kill. I wholeheartedly admit it.

On my quasi-elimination diet, as I’m not doing it properly because of an international trip to *London* coming up next week, I’m tracking just about everything from what and when I eat to recurring symptoms. I’m hoping to find a food intolerance that will help me feel better on many levels. In fact, I might have found one to onions, of all things. Hmmmm.

One of the things I’m doing is cutting way way way back on wheat, sugar, and dairy, as well as eating more leafy green vegetables. I went kinda crazy with the fresh fruit, veggies, and leafy veggies the first time out (left), so when the greens started wilting the following day, I scrambled to find recipes in which I could use them up quickly! This made for a lot of YUMMY green smoothies (bonus recipe at the bottom of this post for a particularly yummy one) and other new ways of eating. My favorite so far is making wraps with Collard Greens. The original recipe I altered is from The Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook and website: Collard Wraps and Raw Sunflower Seed Pate. I foolishly didn’t buy raw sunflowers, so I only have roasted (complete with the likely rancid oils therein), but I made do anyway. They had to soak overnight and I wanted to do something straight away, so I decided on Sweet Potatoes. One of my favorites, especially in the Autumn and Winter. Here’s what I came up with:

Sweet Potato & Quinoa Wraps

1 sweet potato, peeled and boiled until soft1/2c cooked quinoa
1/4c chopped onion
Braggs Liquid Aminos** to taste
dandelion & kale greens
3T organic egg whites
1/4 portobello mushroom, diced
1/4 avocado
1/2 carrot
1 bunch collard or chard, blanched***

1. Mash the softened, boiled sweet potatoes. I just mashed them on their own with no added butter, fats, or milk, and they were perfect.

2. Saute the onion and mushrooms together in a tiny bit of water and Braggs, if you’re watching calories, or for a slightly sweet and healthy fat option, 1t of coconut oil. But remember, you’ll already have avocados in your wrap. Add the egg whites and cook through. You can saute the dandelion and kale if you wish at this point, or keep them fresh for a crunchier wrap.

3. Chop the carrots into tiny carrot sticks, suitable for filling the wrap, and cut wedges of avocado. I use two thin slices per wrap and about five or six tiny carrot sticks.

4. Take a big beautiful collard leaf, blanched and dry. Turn it over so the center stem is exposed. At the point where the stem swells off the leaf, carefully shave along the stem with a sharp knife, trimming the stem flat. Cut off the excess stem at the bottom of the leaf. Lay it out flat and lengthwise.

5. Put a spoonful or two of the mashed sweet potatoes near the bottom on one side of the stem. Put an equal amount of the quinoa mixture on the other. Add a few carrot sticks and a couple slices of avocado, along with the fresh greens, if you didn’t saute them.

6. To wrap: fold the bottom and top of the leaf over the filling. Then fold the right side up over the middle pouch of filling and roll it tightly over the left side of the collard leaf, leaving the “seam” on the bottom. Cut diagonally across the middle.

**I swear by this stuff. Whenever someone asks me how I get enough protein as a vegetarian, I tell them how the best proteins our bodies can use are built through the amino acids we ingest. This delicious soy-type liquid is great for use in place of soy sauce, as it has no calories, half the sodium, and is full of amino acid goodness!

***BLANCH! I just learned how to do this and it’s so cool! To blanch greens, get two pots. Put one on to boil and put ice water in the second. Once the first is at a rolling boil, place the collard leaves in for three minutes. Remove and put them in the ice bath for another three. Ta-da! Blanched greens! They’re brighter and so very soft, perfect for wraps!

TIP: If you’re not going to eat them all right away, leave them uncut in the center and wrap them in plastic wrap for a quick meal on the go or a snack.

Makes 6-8 wraps. Approx. 94 Calories per wrap. 3.2g Fat. 35.2mg Sodium. 14.4g Carbs. 3.1g Fiber. 1.9g Sugar. 2.7g Protein. Mmmmmmm.

This is just one of many things you can stuff those lovely collards with! As previously mentioned, I made a version of the linked Collard Wraps with Raw Sunflower Pate as well, and I look forward to trying more wraps with these goodies. I even used Rainbow Chard for wraps, and they’re equally (and surprisingly) delicious. My Sunflower Pate Collard Wraps are pictured on the left. Its green because I mixed in some yummy greens with the soaked sunflowers. Remember that refrigerator full above? Have to do something with them!

Yummy Yummy Yummy stuff, friends!

Now, as promised, a BONUS recipe. One of the many green smoothies I’ve had over the past few days. This is taken directly from The Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen’s site, with insignificant modifications.

Creamy Almond Kale Smoothie.

1c unsweetened vanilla almond milk1/2 bunch kale, chopped
1 pear, cored & chopped.

Blend together.

Per serving: 201 Calories. 3.7g Fat. 209.8mg Sodium. 41.9g Carb. 9.1g Fiber. 16.9g Sugar. 6.1g Protein.

Absolutely delicious, and so filling!

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Get your copy of The Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook for a plethora of healthy eating and a proper elimination diet plan.

So, sit a spell. Take your shoes off.

Ya’ll come back now, y’hear?