Vegan Recipe: Collard Green Wrap, Vinaigrette Beans and Chickpeas Hummus

Time: 10 hours

Cooking time: 1:30 hour

Serves 2 people

Wrap

2 Collard Green Leaves, no stem, blanched

½ carrot raw

½ beetroot raw

½ avocado raw

¼ zucchini raw

½ cup moyashi (beans sprout) raw

¼ red onion raw

½ shitake mushroom sautéed

½ cucumber raw

Lemon

Salt Pepper

1- Shave off the stiff stem in the center of the collard green leaves;

2- Blanch 2 collard green leaves into boiling water for less than 30 seconds and transfer them to ice water to cool;

3- Cut all raw ingredients battonet or grate them;

4- Smash the avocado with lemon juice, salt and pepper. Add the chickpeas hummus;

5- Arrange all raw ingredients on the collard green leaf and add salt, pepper and a drop of olive oil;

6- Close the leaf rolling with all the ingredients inside;

7- Cut in half and serve

Chickpeas Hummus

½ cup Chickpeas cooked till soft

2 tbs olive oil

1 tsp cumin and salt

½ fresh garlic

1 lemon

1- Soak chickpeas into water for 8 hours to release phytic acid;

2- Drain the water and wash chickpeas;

3- Cook chickpeas for 1 hour in boiling water till soft and tender;

4- Strain and let to cool in ice water;

5- Blend chickpeas, olive oil, cumin and chopped garlic in a bar blender or hand blender;

6- Add lemon juice to taste.

Beans Vinaigrette

½ cup of beans, cooked al dente

¼ tomato

¼ onion

Pinch parsley chopped finely

Vinegar

Olive Oil

Salt

Pepper

1- Cook beans untill al dente and let them to cool;

2- Cut tomato and onion brunoise;

3- Mix tomato, onion, vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper in a bowl;

4- Add the mixture into the cooled beans and mix;

5- Season to taste

Hibiscus Sauce

½ cup Sunflower seeds

1/3 cup Dried hibiscus

Sesame oil or Peanut oil

1 tbs shoyu

1- Leave sunflower seeds and hibiscus in separate bowls with water to hydrate for at least 1 hour;

2- Blend seeds and hibiscus in a bar blender and strain;

3- Add Sesame oil, shoyu in the mixture and whisk;

4- Season to taste and reserve

This collard green wrap is one of the recipes I used to prepare and serve in Cibo Barcozinha on the Meat Free Mondays. It is very fresh and rich, based on raw ingredients, beans, and hibiscus sauce. All the ingredients that I used as the filling can be found very easily in any supermarket, although all of them can also be substituted for any other vegetable/legume that can be eaten raw.

The techniques are straightforward. You can use a grater for raw legumes, or a knife to just cut them finely. No secrets. The only thing I discovered that made life much easier was blanching the whole collard green leaf for less than a minute. That technique keeps the leaf colourful and crunchy, although much softer to roll it.

Reflect on your experience. How easy was it to find ingredients? Did you learn a new culinary skill while making the dish? What were some of your challenges? Would you make this recipe again?

The challenge involved in this recipe is basically to play with raw ingredients. Any combination is possible, but the secret is to use different colours to make the dish more attractive. I decided to use avocado as the primary source of protein and fat.