Collard Greens Stew with Meat and Garlic

This week in class is all about slow cookers also known as crock pots! Slow cookers are great because you can prepare everything the night before or the morning of, plug it in, go to work, and come home to a delicious dinner! Slow cookers get their name because that is exactly what they do, cook your foods very slowly for a long period of time. You can cook most meals in a slow cooker with a little bit of tweaking. Check out THIS post to find out 7 tips to convert your recipes to slow cooker recipes. This is a great quick and easy salad to serve with your slow cooked meal! This recipe is also our challenge recipe. We want you to go home and try this on your own!

Serves 4 people

What you'll need:

• Knife
• Cutting board
• Measuring cups
• Measuring spoons
• Medium saucepan
• Slow cooker
• Mixing spoon

Ingredients

• 1/2 Pound stew meat (or you can use sausage)
• 1 Pound collard greens (one big bunch)
• 2 15 ounce cans of beans your choice - If using dry beans, soak overnight and discard the water before using
• 2-3 Carrots, diced
• 2 Medium yellow onions, about 1/2 pound, peeled and diced
• 6 Cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/4 Teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
• 1 Teaspoon salt
• 4 Cups chicken broth
• 1/2 Cup cooking wine
• 1/4 Cup apple cider vinegar 

Directions

1. Brown the meat in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook for about 15 minutes or until the meat is browned.
2. Meanwhile cut the collards into ribbons. Fold each leaf in half and slit the large center rib away and discard it. Stack the halved leaves on top of each other, roll up from the short end into a cigar shape and cut lengthwise down the center. Then cut crosswise into short ribbons about 1/2 inch wide.
3. Add the onions and garlic ,along with the paprika and salt as well as the red pepper flakes if desired, Cook for another 5 minutes or until the onion softens. Add the collard green ribbons slowly, handful by handful, stirring them in so that they wilt down and make room for more.
4. Transfer to a slow cooker and pour in the chicken broth, sherry, and cider vinegar and cook for 3 to 4 hours on LOW or until the collards are quite tender. 

This week we only made one slow cooker recipe with a salad, then prepared a slow cooker recipe to be cooked the next day, and then one more slow cooker recipe as a take home challenge recipe. Curious about them? Click on any of them below and you can see their recipes!

• Honey and Chili Chicken Thighs
• Green Goddess Salad
• Chicken Tagine with Apricots, Almonds & Chickpeas
• Collard Greens Stew with Meat and Garlic 

And as always if you have any questions or comments feel free to leave them below!