Smoky collards & navy beans on rice 💚
Thank you for the frozen collard greens suggestions of what to consider (smoke was a common theme) and what to avoid (creaming them beyond enjoyment).
I'm building up my leftovers stash right now and had FINALLY started to formulate a simple approach for the collards. If you didn't see my story, I wanted to come up with a way to enjoy them, but also try to highlight them instead of burying their flavor. This was my attempt at that, and it came out simple and tasty.
I used regular paprika because my smoked paprika is not nearly fresh enough, and I added liquid smoke, extra liquid smoke, plus more liquid smoke, which can be dangerous for flavor balance, but it's all about timing as smoke flavor cooks out.
I think this is about 2 good servings.
1 can low sodium navy beans
½ 14 oz bag frozen chopped collard greens
¼ cup water
4-5 garlic cloves, minced (I used jarred, which is milder)
½ tsp dry thyme, lightly crushed
½ tsp dry rosemary, lightly crushed
¼ tsp dry dill
1 tsp dry parsley
½ tsp sweet paprika
1 tsp hickory liquid smoke
1 tsp pecanwood liquid smoke
20 cranks coarsely ground black pepper
Sea salt to taste (I used ¼ tsp sea salt)
I blended half the beans plus the bean liquid into a cream. Then, I added everything except salt to a saucepan over medium heat. I stirred occasionally until the mixture came to a light simmer and cooked about 15-20 mins (guesstimate) until I really liked the consistency. I salted to taste - the beans, underlying smoke, and garlic reduce the amount of salt needed for my tastes. Before serving, I stirred about 5 more drops of liquid smoke into the pot for smoky notes both deep and shallow.
I was tempted to add Tabasco or Crystal or some traditional Southern hot sauce as I've done in dishes like this in the past, but I'm glad I didn't because I tried a few drops on it at the table and it completely overpowered the other flavors. The collards still had bite and this went well with scallion'd rice!
#plantbased #southerncookin #collardgreens #navybeans #smokyfood #oilfree #glutenfree #beansgreensgrains