Ah, you caught me again – it’s another meal with sausage! haha! To be honest, I was going to make this with black beans because I was making it on a night when John wasn’t going to be home for dinner (he can’t tolerate beans & lentils) but he cancelled his plans last minute and I had to resort to sausage because I had some defrosted in the fridge.  I have no doubt this would be delicious with black beans – and I WILL make this with them next time.

Apologies for the lack of photos – I wasn’t planning on blogging this one – only took a photo to post in one of my detox groups – but I enjoyed it and thought others would too!

This was really easy to make – the longest part was just boiling the sweet potato & turnip (about 20 minutes).  Rolling them up was took 5 min and baking was just long enough to make sure they were warm!  And of course, I already had homemade mayo in the fridge so I just added the smoked paprika and other seasonings to it and it was ready to serve. This is another example of a meal I pulled out of my ass – came home, didn’t have a plan for dinner, took a quick survey of the fridge and pantry and boom – this is what we have.

I just want to drive home how a healthy and delicious meal doesn’t have to be complicated or require a fancy recipe.  As long as you keep lots of vegetables, high quality protein options and good fats on hand at all times (throw in a whole grain or starchy vegetable if you want) – you can literally throw almost any of it together and it will probably taste good. But you have to know some basic cooking techniques (steaming, sauteing, roasting etc) and be willing to experiment with spices, herbs aromatics and different combinations to learn what you like.  Everyone has different taste and style when it comes to food – some of the things that I love combined together might be weird to you – that’s fine! But take some time to learn what you DO like.  I’m going to drive this point home a zillion more times until every American cooks real food from scratch on a regular basis. So you may get used to hearing it!

Also, don’t feel like you have to use turnip in this if you hate turnips – they’re not my favorite but they blend in pretty unnoticeable here.  You could use more sweet potato, celery root or even regular potato in place of turnip.

Ingredients
1 bunch collard greens, washed, thick ribs removed, then sliced down the center rib (so that each leaf ends up in two equal halves)
1 large sweet potato, peeled, chopped into 1 inch pieces
1 gilfeather turnip, peeled, chopped into 1 inch pieces
2 tsp olive or coconut oil
1 medium leek, whites and light green parts washed and chopped
1 lb sausage of your choice (or beans!) – pre-cooked or raw, preferably organic
2 tbsps pasture butter
1 tsp dried thyme leaves
1/4 cup fresh parsley or 1 tbsp dried
sea salt and black pepper

For serving
Smoked paprika mayo / aioli 

Directions
Bring a 4 quart pot full of water to a boil.  When boiling, carefully add the sweet potato and turnip and simmer for 20 minutes or until vegetables are tender enough to mash.  While they are cooking, toss the collard greens on top, in the same pot as the sweet potato and turnips and let boil for just 30 seconds to 1 minute.  Remove carefully with tongs and set in a colander to drain.

After you’ve removed the collard greens, heat another pan over medium heat, add olive or coconut oil and saute your sausage (casing removed if raw) until cooked through.  Add the leeks to the sausage and cook until the leeks are soft.  If using pre-cooked sausage, cook the leeks first and then add the sausage (chopped) and just heat until the sausage is completely warmed through, then remove from heat and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  When the turnip and sweet potato are tender, drain the water (carefully) and mash until there are no lumps.  Mix in the butter, thyme and parsley, salt and pepper to taste and then mix in the cooked sausage and leeks.

Lay out the collard green halves (steamed and cut right down the center stem – after thick part has been removed) and place a few tablespoons of the sweet potato sausage mixture on one end and roll up like you’re rolling a cigarette (you don’t smoke but the way you envision a cigarette would be rolled) but not too tightly – you don’t want to squeeze out the filling. It should be sticky enough that you don’t need to seal the ends (but you can fold them in if you have enough leaf).  Place the rolls in a small casserole dish and bake for 5 – 10 minutes or until warmed through.

Serve 3 or 4 rolls to each person and top with dollops of the smoked paprika mayo.  Slice with a fork and knife and enjoy!

Makes 10 – 12 collard rolls.