Collard Wraps with Baked Tofu and Cabbage Slaw

In general, I’m a pretty big fan of wrapped foods.  Burritos, wrap sandwiches, mu shu vegetables, and fresh springs rolls all top my list of delicious wrapped dishes.   I am also a fan of figuring out new ways to use the vegetables that come in our CSA box.   After receiving bunch after bunch of collard greens in our box recently, Graham and I were both ready for something besides my old standby sautéed greens.  Given our collard greens dilemma and my enthusiasm for wrapped foods, collard wraps were the perfect solution!

I’d come across collard wraps in a few food magazines and blogs, but had never made them myself.  For the filling of the wraps, I used a few items that I had on hand—some leftover cabbage slaw, brown rice, and some baked tofu.   The combination was fantastic and I was amazed at how well the collard wraps held together.   I served the wraps with some red lentil and roasted garlic dip, but they also would have been good with some of the extra peanut dressing from the cabbage slaw (see the recipe below).

So if you are at a loss for what to do with collard greens, I highly recommend making them into wraps. The range of potential fillings for the wraps is endless, so you can be creative or use the cabbage slaw recipe below (which is also really good just by itself).   Enjoy!

Collard Wraps with Baked Tofu and Cabbage Slaw

For the rolls, I used store-bought Thai flavored baked tofu.  Feel free to marinate and bake your own tofu or use the store-bought kind.

• 6-8 large collard leaves
• 8 ounces of bake tofu, sliced into long strips
• 2 cups cooked brown rice
• 2 cups cabbage slaw with peanut dressing (see recipe below)

Cut the stems off of each of the collard leaves.  Lay the collard leaves on a flat surface with their thick ribbed side up.   To remove the thickest part of the center rib, run your knife parallel to the leaf, carefully slicing off the very top of the rib without making any holes or slits in the large leaf.

Once each leaf is prepared, dunk them into a large pot of boiling water.  After a minute or so when the leaves turn a vibrant green color, remove the leaves and dunk them in ice water.   Remove from water.

Lay one of the leaves out on a flat surface.  Put a few tablespoons of rice and slaw on to the bottom center of the leaf.  Top the filling with a strip or two of the tofu.  Roll the collard leaf over the filling as you would roll a burrito—fold the bottom of the leaf over the filling, tuck in the sides of the leaf, and continue rolling until closed.   Repeat until each of the leaves is filled and rolled.  Serve with the dip of your choice.

Cabbage Slaw with Peanut Dressing

• ½ head of a large green cabbage, finely sliced
• 1 small head of red cabbage, finely sliced
• 3-4 medium carrots, peeled and shredded
• 1 red pepper, thinly sliced
• 1 orange or yellow pepper, thinly sliced
• 4 green onions, diced
• ½ cup (or more) cilantro leaves
• ½ cup peanut butter
• ¼ cup orange juice
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons fresh ginger, peeled and grated
• salt (if needed)

In a large bowl, toss together the cabbage, carrots, peppers, green onions, and cilantro.

In a medium sized bowl, mix together the peanut butter, orange juice, maple syrup, lemon juice, soy sauce, and grated ginger until smooth.  If dressing is too thick mix in a little bit of water a teaspoon at a time.   Dressing should be the consistency of cream.

Before serving, pour the dressing over the cabbage mixture and toss until well incorporated.

Tasty Easy Healthy Green Recipe Ratings: