Week 4, Recipe 5: Greens Gumbo

For my Mardi Gras-themed Super Bowl party, I decided to bring out some New Orleans favorites.  Since I had a vegetarian coming, I made greens gumbo.  Recipe from nola.com.

1 bunch mustard greens

1 bunch collards
1 bunch kale
1 carton (32 ounces) low-sodium chicken broth (or equivalent)
1 medium onion, chopped
½ clove garlic, minced
Salt, pepper and Creole seasoning
1 or 2 cans (16 ounces each) cream-style Blue Runner red beans
Smoked portobello mushrooms, chopped (optional)

Wash greens well and chop them roughly. Put them in a large soup or gumbo pot with chicken broth, onions, garlic, salt, pepper, and Creole seasoning.
Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cover, and, stirring occasionally, cook to the texture you desire. (Some people like them still crunchy; lots of people, including Core, like them well done, which will take about an hour.)
When greens are cooked down, add the red beans. Stir well to combine. (If using smoked mushrooms, add them at this point.) Cook another 15 minutes.

Results: Super easy!  I couldn't find those specific red beans so I used dark red kidney beans.  I also used regular baby 'bellos and spinach in place of mustard greens.  I added extra cayenne to give it a little more kick.  The broth had AMAZING flavor!  My classmate put the leftovers over pasta and said it was AWESOME!  Yay!