Collard greens take the place of cabbage in these quinoa-stuffed, goat cheese-smothered, comfort-full rolls.
quinoa-stuffed collard green rolls with goat cheese from Eats Well With Others

You’ll all be happy to know that this little wedding I’m having (and by little I mean…not little at all or not little enough or both) is all falling into place.

Which is to say, absolutely zero things have fallen into place except for THE MOST IMPORTANT THING.

Not the dress, not the caterers, not the hair, makeup or photographer.

Half of you already know because I couldn’t muster up the self control to not  instagram the heck out of it this weekend.

What can I say. I’m weak.

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We found our cake!!

And boy was it hard work. Not.

We went to visit exactly one bakery that I had already decided was The One before we even got there. But the trick was to let The.Boy think it was his idea because he doesn’t like it when I just make these snap decisions without really exploring all of my options. But the thing is, when I know – I KNOW.

Right, so it’s being made by this little bakery in Brooklyn. You might have heard of them. Or have one of theirTHREECOOKBOOKS (I know I do). Or have ogled their sweet and salty brownies, lemon pistachio cornmeal muffins, sweet and salty cake, salt-n-pepper sandwich cookies, grasshopper bars, pumpkin spice cheesecake bars, or one of the other five trillion things I’ve made from them over the past five years.

Okay fine, I’ll just tell you. BAKED!!

Talk about a dream come true.

We are actually just going to have a very small pistachio cake with vanilla honey buttercream for cutting purposes and then cupcakes for everyone! 99.9% because we are indecisive and couldn’t choose just one flavor.

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And that, my friends, is also the story of how/why we ate cupcakes for lunch on Sunday.

Which can in turn explain these collard green rolls.

They were necessary.

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And yet also really really good.  Think cabbage rolls but vegetarian and topped with goat cheese.

And then think about how quickly you can get them in your oven because cupcake lunch or not, I think we can all use a little bit of health food before next Wednesday.

Especially the kind that you will actually look forward to eating. I.e. the quinoa-stuffed goat cheese-topped kind. Obviously.

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One year ago…Chickpeas, Pumpkin and Cranberries with Bulgur, Baked Ziti with Eggplant

Four years ago…Wintry Baked Ziti

Quinoa-Stuffed Collard Green Rolls with Goat Cheese
 
Collard greens take the place of cabbage in these quinoa-stuffed, goat cheese-smothered, comfort-full rolls.
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 (28 oz) cans of diced tomatoes
  • 6 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
  • ¼ cup fresh basil, slivered or 2 tsp chopped fresh thyme
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 12 large collard leaves, center ribs removed
  • ¾ cup quinoa
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 1½ cups vegetable broth
  • ⅓ cup chopped walnuts, toasted
  • 4 oz goat cheese, crumbled
Instructions
  1. Heat a large pot over medium heat. Add 1 tbsp olive oil to the pan and swirl to coat. Add the tomatoes, garlic and herbs to the pan. Bring to a boil and then simmer, covered for 30 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and add salt. Set aside.
  2. While the sauce is cooking, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add half of the collards to the pot and cook for 1 minute. Remove from the pan with tongs and place into a dry bowl. Repeat with remaining collards.
  3. Rinse the quinoa to remove any bitter resin. Heat a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. add the remaining olive oil the pan and swirl to coat. Add the onion to the pan and saute until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the quinoa and cook for two minutes, stirring constantly. Add the broth, scraping up any browned bits, and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce the heat, and simmer for 15 minutes or until the liquid is absorbed. Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the walnuts and season to taste with salt and black pepper.
  4. Heat the oven to 375.
  5. Spread about ¾ cup of tomato sauce over the bottom of a 9x9 or 11x7-inch glass baking dish. Working with one collards leaf at a time, place about ¼ cup of the quinoa in the center of a leaf. Fold in the edges of the leaf and roll up tightly. Place the roll, seam side down, in the baking dish. Repeat with remaining leaves and quinoa. Spoon the remaining sauce over the rolls. Cover and bake for 20 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake uncovered for 5 minutes.
Notes
Adapted from Cooking Light
Nutrition Information
Serving size: 3 rolls

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54 Responses to Quinoa-Stuffed Collard Green Rolls with Goat Cheese

  1. Way to go on the cupcakes, Joanne. Thank goodness you didn’t decide to cater it yourself. 🙂 I can only imagine it will be a big wedding??

  2. Hooray for the cake decision! We did a small cake to cut and then cupcakes for our guests. It’s perfect that way 🙂
    This meal looks so healthy – and so comforting and filling!

  3. Deena Kakaya says:

    I love recipes like these, not only because they taste great but also because they make simple effort look like hard work 😉 x

  4. Oh what a great idea on the cake for cutting and cupcakes for everyone! Love that!
    And, this recipes looks so yummy as well! whohoo!

  5. Monica says:

    These collard rolls look delicious, and “yay!” for wedding cake and Baked! I love the idea of your cake and cupcakes. It will be so awesome, I’m sure! I hear Baked is opening up a location in Tribeca? All the closer for you…Enjoy the holidays and wedding planning!

  6. danielle says:

    I love stuffed cabbage, I never thought of using collards. Great idea!

  7. Haha, so glad you found your cake!!! Obviously that’s the most important part of a wedding (esp for a food blogger) 😉
    Ooh, and I love these collard green rolls! I’m always looking for something different for dinner and these sound fabulous. Totally going on my menu this week…in fact, perhaps even tonight.

  8. this is a comfort food heaven,,both the cake story and collard green rolls. I am so glad you found the cake, priority!

  9. Beth says:

    Congratulations about the cake! It will be perfect (as will the cupcakes).
    And speaking of perfect, these green rolls. Yes, I would love them before or after Christmas!

  10. Pinning this recipe!

    I already have anxiety thinking about my future wedding cake. How am I ever going to decide?!?

  11. Yay!! Was so happy when I saw the news on IG. Congrats!! It will be so perfect. I love their books. And girl don’t stress about any of the details yet…it is so far way. You have a location and date and that is all you need that far in advance. The rest can be done slowly. And please…let me know if you need help with researching anything to reduce your load.

  12. Lisa says:

    Beautiful and another must try from your lovely site. I was actually dreaming of goat cheese last night 🙂 Thank you. xo

  13. So happy to know that you have found your cake! The quinoa green rolls look mouthwatering.

  14. The cake is found..yay.
    This is such a great dish, comfort food and it’s healthy. Pinning this.

  15. Sues says:

    Yayy!! The best part! I can’t even tell you how excited I was when I learned my favorite bakery was THE cake vendor for our wedding site. The ONLY site they were the vendor for. It was fate. Of course, we didn’t actually get to eat our cake during our wedding (seriously. I scarfed a few bites down before they shut the place down), but still.

    Also, this post initially had me convinced your cake was going to be made with greens 🙂

  16. Congrats on making the decision! Very sneaky 😉
    I would think that I need some of this after my cookie baking spree that’s been going on here.

  17. Pam says:

    Yay! I have two of their cookbooks – they are the BEST!

    The collard green rolls look absolutely AMAZING!

  18. Perfect, I need a healthy meal in the middle of the holidays!

  19. Eileen says:

    Yay for cake! And definitely yay for these rolls! I kind of want to make up a big batch and just eat them all myself…not the least because I’m the only eater of goat cheese at our house. More for me! 🙂

  20. Hotly Spiced says:

    That’s so exciting, Joanne. I love how everything is falling into place and I do like the sound of a pistachio cake. Your quinoa stuffed collard green with goat’s cheese looks and sounds amazing – an excellent choice of meal if you’ve been doing nothing all day except eating cupcakes xx

  21. Oh maa gawd… seriously!? In. LOVE. I’m so gonna make this after the Holidays! Amazing recipe, Joanne.

  22. Hooray for cake testing! That was one of my favorite parts of wedding planning. Oh, and these collard green rolls, loving!

  23. what a creative recipe! and yay on the wedding cupcakes. that’s what we did for our wedding… a small cutting cake and tons o’ cupcakes for everyone else. yum-a-licious!

  24. Kate says:

    Congratulations on the cake!

  25. Abby says:

    Oh that’s so exciting!! I was almost too distracted by the idea of cupcakes to see these amazing rolls, goat cheese and walnuts? Count me in!

  26. Baked is yummy, save be a piece of that cake! Also I’m obsessed with collard greens, had some this week so this recipe is just perfect!

  27. So glad you’ve found your cake; hope you’ll tell us about the wedding menu, too, since food is the most important thing, isn’t it? 😉
    Love these rolls because they look so festive.

  28. debbie says:

    Stuffed cabbage is a favorite of mine so I will be keeping this recipe to try in the future….I love the idea of a small cake and cupcakes!!!! Great idea….Just thought of a very unique cupcake I’ve never seen….a rainbow cookie cupcake!

  29. I’m so happy you’ve now chosen the cake! It sounds wonderful : ) Just like these rolls! These look much better than plain cabbage rolls. I love how goat cheese makes everything better! x

  30. Goat cheese!!! I can’t get enough. Is it bad that I am most excited about the goat cheese. But I really do love basil, collard leaves and other veggies too!

  31. Hip hip for an awesome cake! We did cupcakes, too, but ours were from Sam’s Club. 🙂 Still tasty, but, you know, not the most gourmet (thankfully people drank enough by that point to not really notice). And I love these collard rolls — with goat cheese? Uh-YES. And YUM.

  32. Christina says:

    So happy you found THE cake ;). Now these collard greens.. I have not had collards in years, must remedy with this recipe !!

  33. Megan says:

    Congrats on finding THE cake! If Baked were near me, I’d have done the same thing. 🙂 And on a completely different note, the stuffed collards sound awesome. I would definitely enjoy the quinoa filling.

  34. Emily says:

    These rolls are gorgeous and so creative!

    Excellent choice on the bakery! Can I come to the wedding? Haha. Those cupcakes are going to be amazing!

  35. G’day Joanne! What an unusual combination, true!
    WISH I could try some right now too!
    Cheers! Joanne

  36. Kristi says:

    Yay! Glad you found your cake!

  37. Christine says:

    Brilliant stress-free way to deal with wedding cake choices and flavors! Like the idea of a small cake just for the cutting ceremony. I think your guests will be delighted! One thing down….

  38. Deborah says:

    Ummm, SO amazing that Baked is doing your cake!!! And this sounds like the perfect healthy comfort food!

  39. Beth Somers says:

    Haven’t been here in a while, so I need to say CONGRATULATIONS on your engagement! That’s good stuff! And good on you for getting the boys from Baked to do you wedding sweets. You’ve made a fabulous choice!

  40. I love the idea of pistachio cake + cupcakes! Wow, these rolls look terrific Joanne! So glad to hear you got the “most important” part of your wedding taken care of 😉

  41. So glad I didn’t miss the post. We had cupcakes for our wedding as well 🙂

  42. Cake is definitely the most important part of the wedding (or at least I think so), and how exciting that it’s from Baked! I could definitely use some of these rolls before next week, and the goat cheese topping is a must!

  43. Yay to the cake! Super exciting 🙂 And if you have to eat some other things between now and the cake…these are definitely a good place to be focusing.

  44. I had Carrot Cake at my wedding (over 30 years ago)- sounds like you are also going for a more unconventional cake. Offering your guests cupcakes allows them to all delve in right away and not have to wait for the cake to be sliced. What a good idea!

  45. Not a bad excuse at all to eat cupcakes for lunch. Love it! These sound fantastic as well. I love utilizing big leafy vegetables as mechanisms for wrapping other wonderful ingredients.

  46. Congrats on choosing your cake – how exciting and from BAKED – so awesome!! I am so inspired with the way you used the collards Joanne – i love this!

  47. Shannon says:

    ooh, lovely! and i have swiss chard at home! if only i had time to cook… love the sounds of your cake 🙂 i’m making cupcakes and macarons for mine… #iamcrazy?

  48. Johanna GGG says:

    Cake is important. (Though a caterer who understands good veg food is too – meant to mention that in last post) And cupcakes and collard leaves sounds like a good balanced diet.

  49. You’re serving cupcakes at the wedding? Love!!!

  50. I should probably eat these TODAY, but I think I’ll wait til January because I’m enjoying cookies ALL DAY LONG way too much right now 😉

  51. I’ve drooled over Baked for so long now. Yum!! And these rolls look like just what the doctor ordered during the season of indulgence!

  52. These collard green rolls look delicious. Cup cakes for your wedding is great idea.

  53. […] 5. Quinoa-stuffed Collard Green Rolls with Goat Cheese […]

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