A Green Gumbo for St. Patrick's Day

Ok, St. Patrick's Day was 10 days ago. Just the same, I thought I would share the recipe for this green gumbo that we made during the week prior to St. Patrick's Day.
The story behind this vegetarian gumbo is that it was one that became popular during Lent. It features three different types of greens - collard, turnip, and mustard that collectively contribute to its flavor. It's been a recipe that we've been wanting to try for a while and finally made the commitment to do so. We definitely enjoyed this one, and we hope that you will be intrigued enough to give it a try as well. Before I proceed to the recipe, here is a little background on the greens that are featured in the recipe.

Collard greens

Greens is the general expression given to leaves of plants that are eaten as vegetables. In the southern United States, greens are commonly boiled and served with ham or bacon. 
Collards are loose leaf greens that are actually part of the same family as cabbage and broccoli. In addition to the southern United States, they grown in Brazil, Portugal, the Balkans and even Kashmir. Unlike cabbage, collards do not form a head and the individual leaves can be cut. 

Turnip greens

Turnip greens are simply the leaves of the turnip root vegetable. Turnip greens can be harvested once the turnip root becomes established. If you are picking them before the turnips are ready to be pulled, you just need to take care not to pick so many leaves from a given root, that you are compromising its ability to continue to grow. You can see from the picture that turnip greens are a bit more curled than the collards.

Mustard Greens

Mustard greens round out the assortment of greens included in this recipe. The variety available in most US supermarkets have curled leaves which are slightly smaller than the leaves of turnip greens. Mustard greens are also featured in a number of Asian recipes. 
Each of these types of greens is a great source of vitamins A, C, and K. While this recipe features all three types of greens cooked together, each can be prepared individually as well. We've found that we enjoy the blend of the distinct flavors that each type of greens brings to the cooking pot.

So, let's make some gumbo …
As a quick warning, this recipe will feed a crowd. The recipe book indicated that it would feed 20, and that's probably a fair estimation. Feel free to adjust the quantity (or not) as you see fit.
Here are the ingredients:
1 cup olive oil
1 cup flour
2 cups chopped yellow or sweet onion
1 cup chopped bell pepper
3/4 cup chopped celery
3/4 cup chopped shallots
1/4 cup minced garlic
6 bay leaves
1 1/2 tsp thyme
1 1/2 tsp black pepper
2 tsp white pepper
3/4 tsp cayenne pepper
2 Tbsp salt
1 lb mushrooms, smoked (yes, it's worth the trouble if you have a smoker)
1 gallon water
1 bunch collard greens
1 small head cabbage
1 bunch turnip greens
1 bunch mustard greens
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1 lb red or kidney beans, cooked

Now, let's put this gumbo together.
1. Rinse and sort the beans and soak them overnight. Drain, cover them with water and cook until they are just tender. If it's going to be a while before you are ready to add them to the gumbo, drain them, reserving the liquid so that they don't get too mushy. Otherwise, if you are close to being ready to add them, just turn off the heat. Here's our pot of cooked beans in their water.

2. To smoke the mushrooms - Use medium sized whole mushrooms. Wash them and trim the stems a little. Place them on a pan in a smoker for about 45 minutes. Allow to cool and cut them into quarters. Reserve the liquid on the pan to add to the gumbo pot. You will like the added smoky flavor.

3. Chop the onion, bell pepper, celery, and shallots so that they are ready to add once the roux has reached its desired color. Quick warning - shallots are very strong. You may wish to have an open window to help with some ventilation.
4. Chop the greens and cabbage into roughly 1-inch squares. Cover with the water and boil until tender. To be honest, I didn't measure the pieces. Just chop to what size looks right to you.

Chopped greens getting ready to simmer 

Chopped vegetables in the roux

5. Now, let's make the roux. Use a large, heavy bottomed pot (we use the bottom of our pressure canner cooker). Bring the oil to a medium high heat and then stir in the flour. Stir until the roux takes on a peanut butter color.

6. Stir in the chopped vegetables. Sauté them until they are tender and are starting to stick to the bottom of the pan. Stir in the garlic, herbs, and salt/pepper. Your house should be smelling pretty amazing at this point. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring carefully.

7. Stir in the cooked greens and the water they were cooked in.

8. Stir in the beans and their reserved liquid.

Gumbo boiling on the stove

9. Stir in the mushrooms and parsley. Bring to a boil and adjust seasonings as desired.
10. Serve over rice.
11. Reheat the leftovers the next day and enjoy - gumbo tastes better each time it is reheated.

Remind me again why I wanted to do this project …

This is a post that has been in the works for a few weeks now. I just haven't seemed to find the time to sit down and get it written. My struggle to find the time to write somewhat parallels my struggle to finish this project. Here's a little bit of the story behind this project.

As with several of my other posts, this one features a Row by Row Experience project. The origins of this one date back to my family's 2016 vacation. Prior to that vacation, I reviewed the Row by Row Experience's website to identify participating shops that were located along our planned route (or not too far off the route). Fortunately, my husband was very accommodating to my plans. (The rows from that particular trip will be a topic for another post.)

The first quilt shop stop on our 2016 vacation was The Quilt Basket in York, Nebraska. What made this stop so memorable was that the shop stayed open after closing time so that I could come by to pick up one of their row kits. In 2016, their vertical row featured a raccoon eating corn in the cornfield. I would go on to sign up to be on the email list for this shop. 

Fast forward to June of 2017 when The Quilt Basket revealed the pattern for their "On the go" - themed row. My immediate thought was that it was very cute, and when I showed it to my husband he concurred. Since my summer travel plans didn't include Nebraska, I needed to wait until November when the Row by Row rules allow the shops to mail their patterns and kits.

When I opened the kit and took a closer look, I started to have second thoughts about the project. I quickly found that I hadn't given due consideration to the multiple small pieces that I would need to trace, fuse, cut out, and machine stitch. The picture below of a portion of the row provides some perspective. You can see the multiple individual pieces involved in the raccoon from his overalls to the white stripes on his tail and from his nose, hands, and feet to his mask and the triangles inside his ears.

Now, multiply some of those extra small pieces by four more raccoons, and you get the idea of some of the distinctions of this project. Also, take a look at the angles on the treads of the tractor tires. Machine blanket stitching around these pieces involved quite a bit of starting stopping, turning, and then starting, stopping, and turning some more. 

On more than one occasion, I found myself asking my husband, "Remind me again why I wanted to do this project?" His answer was invariably, "Because it's cute;" however, even though his answer did ring of truth, it wasn't necessarily the answer I was seeking at the time. 
In time, I would find myself working one step closer to completion. One evening, the task might be tracing, fusing, and cutting out all of the black pieces. Another night, the task might be to stitch down all of the cream-colored pieces.
While this project was proved to be more daunting than I anticipated, it was also one that I willingly undertook. In contrast, I've recently found myself in some seemingly daunting situations that have not been of my own choosing. These are the types of scenarios in which I am made acutely aware of my own limitations in my own strength and the absolute critical necessity of relying on God's strength. This reliance does not mean that the outcome will align with my perceived desire or that the journey will be an easy one. It simply means that the One who promises never to fail me nor forsake me will be with me. This promise that God made to Jacob when he was fleeing Esau is one that has been speaking to me in recent weeks:

And behold, I am with you, and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you. Genesis 28:15