Old world meets new world

Tonight's experimental dinner: Veggie roulade in collard greens with Jamaican jerk spices

Ingredients:

1 large bunch collard greens, hard stems removed

1/2 lb dried lentils

1 lb brown mushrooms, thinly sliced

1 medium zucchini, medium dice

1 green bell pepper, medium dice

1 orange bell pepper, medium dice

2 firm Roma tomatoes, medium dice, seeds removed

3 stalks celery, medium dice

1/2 c. mashed Russet potato

1/2 c. mashed sweet potato

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

1 c. crushed tomatoes

oil

salt

pepper

juice of 1/2 of lime

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp smoked paprika

Jerk seasoning (recipe below)

Directions:

Cook the lentils with a bay leaf according to directions on package until just slightly mushy (I cooked mine for about 40 minutes). Pre-heat oven to 350F. Lay the collard leaves in a large dish and cover them in boiling water. Set aside. Heat a large sautee pan over medium high heat with a bit of olive oil. Sautee the mushrooms for a few minutes, add 1/2 of the garlic and continue sauteeing until the mushrooms are mostly dry again. Add the bell peppers and continue sauteeing until the bell peppers are just al dente. Add salt and pepper. Dump this mixture into a large bowl and reheat the pan with another dash of olive oil. Sautee the celery and zucchini over high heat until it just begins to brown. Add the Roma tomatoes, the rest of the garlic, and a dash of salt and pepper. Continue sauteeing over medium heat until the tomatoes go soft. Add this to the bowl with the mushrooms. Add both the potato mashes to the bowl with the veggie mixture. Add the smoked paprika, lime juice and about 1/2 of the jerk seasoning (I added some additional cayenne to up the heat). Adjust to taste (make sure to retain about 1/2 tsp of the jerk seasoning).

Spray a 9x13 baking dish with non-stick spray. Take a softened collar green leaf out of the water and lay on the counter. Add about 1/2-2/3 cup of the veggie filling near one end of the leaf. Form into a roll (if you've never made roulade before, there are youtube videos on how to do this process) and place into the baking dish. Continue until you've used up the collards, the filling, or filled the baking dish (whatever comes first). Open the can of crushed tomatoes, mix in a pinch of salt, some black pepper, the sugar, and remaining jerk seasoning to taste. Pour over the rolls. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and bake 10-15 additional minutes, until the collards are very tender. Serve.

NOTES:  Next time I'll add more sweet potato and a bit more cayenne.  I'd probably add a bit of vinegar (apple cider vinegar?) to the tomato topping too.

Jamaican Jerk:
1 tablespoons dried minced onion
2 teaspoons dried thyme
8-10 allspice berries
8-10 black peppercorns
1/2" cinnamon stick
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt

Put all jerk ingredients into spice blender and process until fine and powdery.