Vegan creaminess as well as an earthy, nuttiness comes from the addition of natural or freshly ground peanut butter in this West African-inspired side dish.
A tip from the professionals – wear disposable prep gloves when chopping the chiles.
INGREDIENTS
- 2 lb. collard or turnip green leaves, roughly chopped (12 cups)
- 1 cup dried shrimp
- 4 Scotch bonnet or habanero chiles, stemmed, seeded, and finely chopped
- 1 1⁄2 medium yellow onions (1 roughly chopped, 1/2 sliced into 1/4-inch-thick rings)
- 1 vine-ripe tomato, cored, seeded, and roughly chopped
- 4 tbsp. red palm oil or vegetable oil
- 2 tbsp. tomato paste
- 1⁄2 cup natural peanut butter
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
INSTRUCTIONS
- Bring 2 cups water to a boil in a large saucepan and season with salt.
- Add the collard greens, cover, and cook until the leaves are tender and wilted, about 5 minutes.
- Drain the leaves in a colander set over a bowl and reserve 1 cup of the cooking liquid.
- Place the leaves and reserved liquid in a blender, purée until smooth, and scrape the paste into a bowl.
- Clean the blender and return it to its base.
- In the blender, combine the dried shrimp with three-quarters of the chiles, half the chopped onion, and the fresh tomato and purée until smooth.
- In a large saucepan, heat 2 tablespoons palm oil over medium-high.
- Add the remaining half of the chopped onion and the tomato paste and cook, stirring constantly, until the onions are soft and lightly caramelized, 6 to 8 minutes.
- Scrape the shrimp and tomato paste into the pan, reduce the heat to medium, and cook, stirring, until lightly caramelized, about 5 minutes.
- Remove the pan from the heat, stir in the puréed collard greens and peanut butter, and mash until evenly combined.
- Season the greens with salt and pepper and scrape into a serving dish.
- In a 10-inch skillet, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons palm oil over high, add the onion rings, and cook, stirring, until soft and slightly caramelized, about 5 minutes.
- Arrange the onion rings over the collards and garnish with the remaining chile.