Collards: not just for New Year's Day

I wasn't someone who ate collards other than as part of the obligatory new year's day ritual and occasionally at a soul food joint, the greens heavily laden with ham hock. This was problematic to an aspiring vegetarian. I had previously cooked a few different variations of vegetarian collards and black eyed peas but none had an inspired flavor. That is until I stumbled upon an ingenious recipe combining harissa seasoning with collards, black eyed peas and rice. While this combination may not seem so far out to some, it was certainly new to me having only ever tasted collards prepared in the traditional Southern manner.

As is the common theme, most recipes call for about half a bunch of collards. What to do with the rest? Here are a couple of healthy and delicious recipes that have both the benefit of overlapping ingredients and distinctive tastes. To boot, both are relatively quick to prepare and great for weekly meal prep.

Recipe #1:

Here's the first recipe which I can't take credit for, but is the inspiration for my foray into cooking collards creatively.

https://vanillaandbean.com/harissa-stewed-black-eyed-peas-with-okra-and-collard-greens/

Recipe #2

Collard & Black Eyed Pea Casserole with Honey Sriracha Tahini Sauce 

Vegetarian or vegan if substitute honey 

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups quinoa (cooked)

6 cups of collard greens, packed (about ½ bunch Collard greens)

3 cups cooked black eyed peas (or two 14oz cans, drained and rinsed) 

1 yellow onion 

4 cloves garlic 

2 cups or 1 can artichokes in brine, drained and chopped 

1 hungarian wax pepper (or mild to medium heat pepper; omit if prefer less spicy)

½ teaspoon salt 

½ teaspoon red chili flakes 

1 ½  tablespoons harissa seasoning 

½ teaspoon cinnamon 

2 tablespoons olive oil 

1. Cook the quinoa, set aside. I recommend using an instant pot or similar pressure cooker for hands-off ease and best results but not required. 

2. Cook the black eyed peas. I recommend using an instant pot or similar pressure cooker for hands-off ease and best results but not required. 1 part pea, 3 parts water. Pressure cook on high for 8 minutes and then allow natural release for 15 minutes. 

3. Preheat the oven to 350

4. Chop the onion into small pieces

5. Mince the garlic 

6. Remove the seeds from the pepper and dice into small pieces 

7. In a medium saute pan or dutch oven, heat the oil over medium low heat (start with low heat if using cast iron, including enameled cast iron) 

8. Add onion and saute until translucent in color and starting to brown, about 5 minutes

9. Add garlic and pepper to onion and continue to saute until fragrant, about 2 minutes 

10. De-stem and chop the collards into bite size pieces (wash first)

11. Remove onion, garlic and pepper mixture from heat

12. Add the collards, artichoke, black eyed peas, quinoa and spices salt, and honey sriracha tahini dressing to the onions, garlic and pepper ands stir to combine  

13. Dump/ spoon the mixture into a lightly greased casserole dish (I use 9x13 glass pyrex) 

14. Cover with tin foil and bake for 20 minutes 
    

Honey sriracha tahini sauce

¼  cup tahini 

1 ½ teaspoons honey 

1 teaspoon sriracha (add more for additional spice) 

Whisk ingredients together in a medium bowl