Creamed Collards (or Greens) Deluxe

This creamed greens recipe includes pancetta, mushrooms, red bell and poblano peppers, onions and carrots. Try it with kale, tatsoi, spinach, collard, turnip or any other greens.

~~~

The creamed greens recipe I posted two months ago is really good, but I kept thinking it could be even better. It could be creamed greens deluxe.

And here it is: creamed greens deluxe. What makes it deluxe? I added pancetta, onion, carrot, red bell pepper, poblano pepper and mushrooms to my other more classic recipe. And, oh my, oh my, this one is really, really good. In fact, it’s fabulous.

I made this recipe with collard greens but you could use any type of greens—kale, tatsoi, spinach, turnip or whatever is in your refrigerator. Is it healthy? It could be worse. Take a look at the recipe and tell me what you think. It does have a lot of cream cheese but it’s low-fat cream cheese. There’s a handful of Parmesan cheese in there. But besides that, it looks pretty darn nutritious to me. Oh, I forgot about the pancetta and butter. I guess “healthy” is relative.

When you have a bunch of greens and you’re looking for something more interesting than the usual sauté, this recipe will come to your rescue. It’s seriously yummy yet not overly creamy—it does taste healthy.

Creamed Collards Deluxe | Grabbing the Gusto

Creamed Collards (or Greens) Deluxe

You’ll need a large deep skillet, pot or Dutch oven with a lid.

• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 ounces pancetta, diced (2 slices) or 2 slices bacon, diced
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 1/2 medium carrot, diced
• 1/2 red bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 poblano pepper, diced
• 7 ounces mushrooms, sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 18 ounces (or more) collards or other greens, like kale, tatsoi and/or spinach, destemmed (if necessary) and coarsely chopped
• 6 ounces low-fat cream cheese (Neufchatel)
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup 2% milk
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Melt butter and heat oil in skillet over low heat. Once the butter is melted, add pancetta or bacon and cook a few minutes. Add onion, carrot, red bell pepper, poblano pepper and mushrooms, and cook 5 minutes or until softened. Add garlic and cook one minute, or until fragrant.

Add collards or greens to pot, add a little water if necessary, cover and cook until softened. Add slices of cream cheese to pot, break it up with your spoon or spatula and let it melt into the greens. Once it’s mostly melted, stir in the Parmesan. Pour in 1/3 cup milk, stir and add more milk if it’s not creamy enough. Season with salt and pepper. Serve hot.