Collard Wraps with Roasted Garlic Hummus, Walnuts and Grated Carrot

Tonight I decided to make an easy dinner from things I had in the refrigerator. I like to experiment with food and today I made collard wraps. I had purchased the collards from the farmers’ market this weekend because they are part of the cruciferous vegetable family. I love to include as many cancer fighting foods in our diet as I can.

This was my first time to make collard wraps and it was a little more difficult than I expected, but I think that I have figured it out. Take the collard leaf and remove most of the thick stem (but not all). I sliced the bulk of the stem from the leaf. It is important not to slice out the stem completely, or it will be more difficult to keep the filling inside the wrap.

When the stem is mostly removed I smeared the bottom half of the collard (the end near the stem) with roasted garlic hummus. I put chopped walnuts, finely diced celery and grated carrot on top the hummus. Next I rolled up the filled collard like a burrito and sliced it in half and served it cold.

Collard Wraps with Hummus, Walnuts, Carrot and Celery
makes 2 servings

Ingredients:

4 large collard leaves, bulk of stem removed so they are easy to roll
½ cup of walnuts, chopped
1 carrot, grated
2 stalks of celery, finely minced
freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 cup of roasted garlic hummus

Directions:

Mix the walnuts, carrot and celery together. Add black pepper to the nut and vegetable mixture according to your taste.

Cover bottom ½ of the collard leaf with ¼ cup of hummus. Add ¼ of the nut and vegetable mixture on top of the hummus. Roll the filled collard up like a burrito and cut in half. You can secure the wrap with a toothpick if necessary.

Nutrition Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 324.4
Calories From Fat (55%) 177.25

Total Fat - 21.14g
Saturated Fat - 2.06g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 495.08mg
Potassium - 625.38mg
Total Carbohydrates - 28.8g
Fiber - 9.17g
Sugar - 3.89g
Protein - 10.26g

Comments:

The collard makes a better sandwich wrap than I expected. It will take a little time to become proficient rolling the collard. However, since this is so much healthier than eating flour based wraps, I will be incorporating more collards into our diet in lieu of whole grains wraps. I think the texture of the walnuts was necessary to give this “sandwich” substance. I also believe that you need something “gooey” like a bean dip to help hold the filling in the wrap. The raw collard imparted less green flavor than I expected.

Next time I may add a few whole or lightly mashed chickpeas for texture. I also think a little lemon juice or zest would be good added to the vegetables on this sandwich.