Sunday Dinner-Slow Cooker Stuffed Collard Greens 2

Hello from up North!  

Tonight we are taking our Sunday Dinner on the road.  The Bucks and the Andersons enjoyed a busy and fun-filled day up in the North Conway area.  With a little bit of planning and forethought, we were able to have a deliciously fresh Springdell meal waiting for us at the end of the day!  Here’s how it all happened…

Having a Friday CSA pickup day worked out well this week as I was able to prep and pack it all up for traveling.  In the Friday swap box at the farm, I found a bunch of collard greens that someone had left behind.  Along with the bunch in my sharebox, I knew I’d be in business for an easy and tasty meal.  I boiled the 2 bunches of greens for about 10 minutes before immersing them in ice water, then draining and sealing them in a bag for travel.  

I cooked up 2 cups of jasmine rice while blanching the collard greens (any rice you prefer is fine).  After planning out a few other potential meals for the week, I grabbed some ingredients, including the entire weekly sharebox contents, and headed North with the Family.

Early this morning we arrived at our North Conway condo and I got cooking.  I mixed the 2 cups of the cooked rice with 2 pounds of Springdell ground beef, 2 eggs, about 1/2 cup of milk, 1/2 cup of finely diced onion.

Removing the tough stems from the collards is important when making rolls.  Even after a relatively long blanching and overnight stay in a freezer bag, the stems make a leaf really hard to roll.  The stems are simple to remove, just close the stem gap before rolling the leaf.  (Please feel free to check out Nana’s Cabbage Roll Recipe for more on rolling technique.)  The stems are delicious in this recipe too, so don’t throw them away!  I spread them out in the bottom of the slow cooker before I started layering my cabbage rolls.  (Please note-you need a large slow cooker to make this recipe, but you can halve the recipe pretty easily).

The sauce was a quart of last summer’s tomatoes, 2 tablespoons of brown sugar, 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, and 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce, and a teaspoon of cider vinegar.  After combining these ingredients, the mixture went over the rolls.  Eight hours on low in the slow cooker and we were ready to roll!  We enjoyed the rolls with a fresh and simple chilled cucumber mint basil soup starter.  

A simple tomato basil purée was drizzled over lettuce and fresh local mozzarella from The Mozzarella House (have you tried this amazing stuff?!?! If not, do pick some up at the farmstand, it’s amazing.)  

We had a homemade roasted garlic and chive dip that was a great conduit for the enjoyment of fresh Springdeell veggies.Freshly whipped cream and berries sealed the dessert deal.  The photo didn’t come out but no worries, I’ll make berries and cream again.

After a long adventurous vacation day, and a good meal with great friends, and bedtime for the kids, Sarah and I are hunkered down watching… a cooking show.  Go figure.