Cajun Collards
I've been cooking without recipes a lot lately - just kinda messing around with ingredients and tossing things together. A whiskeyed apple galette, quinoa stew, various salads, roasted this-and-that. Nothing fancy, but lots of good solid dishes. The biggest success, though, was an experiment with collard greens.
Being disinclined to smell greens boiling in pork fat all day on Sunday (the traditional method), I set off through my freezer and spice jars for ideas.
What I came up with:
1 bunch collard greens
1 small yellow onion
1-2 andouille sausages
4 cups chicken broth
red pepper flakes
Cajun spices (Penzey's makes a nice mix; you can also make your own - cayenne, chili, paprika, onion, mustard, cloves, and sometimes some other fragrant bits too)
You don't really need an exact recipe for this if you've cooked collards before. Just chop 'em up, toss 'em in the pot (or slow cooker) with the liquid and onions, let it cook 'til the greens are tender and the onions translucent, add the sausage and spices, and cook it some more. It can cook 'til it reaches your desired tenderness - my family cooks them the Southern way, which is "down to mush". When I'm cooking for myself I go for a slightly less pulped version.
Don't forget the cornbread on the side - and to make it a more complete meal, you can bake some accompanying sweet potatoes too.