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Just Picked: Collard greens make wraps easy, healthy

Thick and pliant, collard greens, like these spotted at a recent Thursday Market in the South Perry District, make perfect packaging for raw rainbow veggie wraps. (Adriana Janovich / The Spokesman-Review)

Collard greens are a Southern staple.

Slow cooking helps tenderize the otherwise hardy leaves, which are prepared in the traditional Deep South side dish with a ham hock or bacon strips to impart a smoky flavor.

Raw, they make the perfect packaging. These vibrant veggie wraps will satisfy and energize.

Roll up anything in there: matchstick carrots or peppers, cucumber ribbons, tomato wedges, sprouts or microgreens. Hummus – or smashed avocado seasoned with salt and pepper – adds density and helps hold it all together.

But collards – the bigger the better – are the star of this show. Use one or two leaves per wrap, then slice the whole thing in half. And don’t worry about eating both. Collards are low in calories. So are these fillings, except for the hummus or smashed avocado. (Remember, though, it’s the good fat.)

One cup of raw collards has 11 calories, and more than meets the daily requirements for vitamin K. Collards are also a good source of vitamins A and C.

Soak the leaves in warm water and a splash of vinegar for about 10 minutes to make the leaves clean and pliable. Or, if you have time, freeze them for an hour as outlined in the instructions below.

Then, trim the stems. Shave the base of the remaining stalk, the backbone of the leaf, into a slim sliver using a gliding motion so the entire leaf is easier to bend. Take care not to tear the greens. They need to be intact.

If using two leaves, lay them flat with the stems at opposite ends. Place the fillings in the center, then tuck, fold, roll and enjoy the rainbow.

Raw Rainbow Collard Greens Wrap

From Perry Santanachote at dailyburn.com

4 large collard leaves

3/4 cup hummus

1 tomato, sliced into thin wedges

1 medium carrot, cut in half and sliced into thin strips

1 yellow bell pepper, sliced into thin strips

2 Persian cucumbers, sliced into thin strips

1/2 cup pea sprouts

1/4 red onion, sliced into thin strips

1/8 head of red cabbage, shredded

1/2 teaspoon grated horseradish in beet juice

Put raw collard leaves in a plastic bag and freeze them until they turn bright green, about an hour. This makes them more pliable without losing any raw nutrition.

Run the leaves briefly under cold water and lay them topside down on a cutting board. Using a paring knife, gently shave down the raised part of the spines so the surface of the collard is nice and flat. Spread 3 tablespoons of hummus down the center of each leaf and distribute the rest of the vegetables evenly among the leaves, laying them parallel to the spines. Be sure to leave about an inch on each edge uncovered. Sprinkle horseradish on top.

Roll the collard tops and bottoms (stem side) inward, fold one of the long sides in, tucking all the filling underneath it, and continue rolling the leaf from that side to the other side to get a tight wrap. Slice in half with a sharp knife.

Yield: 4 servings