Make Ahead
Collard Green Mexican Wrap
- Makes 4 small-ish wraps
Author Notes
Last week we spotted large collard green leaves, which I picked right up with the intention to finally try using them as wraps. In our experimenting we found out that they’re sturdy enough to support the fillings and also stay wrapped pretty well without creating too much of a mess. Blanching them quickly makes them easier to work with. This time around we went with a Mexican theme, but we have lots of other filling ideas spinning around in our heads.
The great thing about wraps of any kind is you can let your creative juices flow. Consider the recipe below a guideline; feel free to add and remove ingredients to your liking. You may also need to adjust the quantities depending on the size of your leaves.
Note: *We cheated and bought a cooked rotisserie chicken from the grocery store. If you’re going to make your own chicken season with salt, pepper and some cayenne if you’d like a kick. —Meghan Zichelli
Ingredients
-
1/4
red onion, thinly sliced
-
1 tablespoon
sugar
-
1 tablespoon
red wine vinegar
-
1 tablespoon
water
-
4
collard greens, stem trimmed and shaved down
-
1/2
avocado
-
lime or lemon juice
-
salt and pepper
-
Dash
cayenne pepper
-
1 cup
greens
-
1/2
tomato, diced
-
1 cup
thinly sliced red cabbage
-
1
radish, thinly sliced
-
1 cup
shredded and cooked chicken
-
4 tablespoons
queso fresco or cotija
-
2 tablespoons
chopped cilantro
Directions
- Pickle the onion: Combine the onion along with the sugar, vinegar and water in a pan. Once it boils, cook for a couple minutes, stirring, until liquid begins to reduce. Transfer to a bowl and set aside. Once cooled and ready to use, drain the onions from the liquid.
- Blanch the collard greens: Prepare an ice bath in a large bowl and keep it nearby. Boil a pot of water on the stove. Cook one leaf a time for 30 seconds each, using tongs to remove from the water and immediately move to the ice bath. Once cooled, pat dry and set aside.
- Scoop out the avocado and mash it in a bowl with citrus juice, salt, pepper and a dash of cayenne pepper, mixing together.
- Assemble the wraps: Lay out one collard green leaf on your work surface, or all 4 if you have the room. Spread a quarter of the avocado mix in a rectangle in the middle of the leaf, parallel to the stem. Top with a quarter of the remaining ingredients (pickled onions, tomato, cabbage, radish, chicken, cheese and cilantro). Fold ends over mixture and wrap like a burrito to seal. If not eating right away, wrap in foil or saran wrap and refrigerate. Repeat with remaining leaves.
See what other Food52ers are saying.