One of the biggest challenges eating a Real Food diet is when you eat out. I hope I can make it easier for you. One of my favorite places to eat is Abyssinia Ethiopian Restaurant in Santa Rosa. A couple of weeks ago, I was there with my friend, Tiffani and we decided this collard green dish was our favorite. As usual, I was inspired to go home and try to recreate the recipe.

Ethiopian Collard Greens translated into Ethiopian is Ye’abesha Gomen. I found this recipe on Saveur.com. While I can say it was not as good as the Ethiopian collard greens at Abyssinia, they were very, very close.

The recipe calls for black cardamom seeds, ground fenugreek and nigella seeds. Nigella seeds are also called black cumin. I found this interesting article about the medicinal properties of nigella seeds. I made this recipe two times with collard greens and one time with a mixture of kale and chard. It is great to find a recipe I don’t have to change!

Ingredients:

4 T ghee
1/8 tsp black cardamon seeds
1/8 tsp ground fenugreek
1/8 tsp nigella seeds
1/4 coup extra-virgin olive oil
1 large yellow onion, minced
3 cloves of garlic. minced
2 Thai chilis, stemmed, seeded, and minced
1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and minced
1 1/2 lbs collard greens, stemmed and cut crosswise into 1/4″ wide strips
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
White wine vinegar, to taste

Instructions:

Heat ghee in a 6 quart pot over medium heat. Add cardamom, fenugreek, and nigella and cook, stirring often, until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. Increase heat to medium-high and add oil; add onions and cook, stirring often, until browned, 10 minutes. Add garlic, chiles, and ginger and cook, stirring often, until soft and fragrant, 3 minutes. Add collards, 1 1/3 cups water, and salt and pepper; cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cook, stirring occasionally, until the collards are tender, 50 – 55 minutes. Stir in vinegar and serve collards hot.

Source: Saveur Magazine