Green Gumbo

• servings: 8 servings
• total time: 50 minutes

Ingredients

½ cup vegetable oil

½ cup all-purpose flour

1 large onion, chopped fine

2 celery rib, chopped fine

1 green bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and chopped fine

3 garlic clove, minced

1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried

2¼ teaspoons table salt, divided

2 teaspoons smoked paprika

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

5 cups water

12 ounces collard greens, mustard greens, or kale, stemmed and cut into 1-inch pieces

1 cup frozen cut okra

1 (15-ounce) can black-eyed peas, rinsed

12 ounces curly-leaf spinach or Swiss chard, stemmed and cut into 1-inch pieces

6 ounces green bean, trimmed and cut into 1-inch lengths

1 tablespoon cider vinegar, plus extra for seasoning

2 scallion, sliced thin (optional)

Directions

Note: Don't use fresh okra here, but you can use frozen spinach instead of fresh. Serve over white rice, if you like.

Heat oil in Dutch oven over medium-high heat until just smoking. Using rubber spatula, stir in flour and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture is color of peanut butter, 2 to 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low and continue to cook, stirring constantly, until roux has darkened to color of milk chocolate, 5 to 10 minutes longer.

Stir in onion, celery, bell pepper, garlic, thyme, 1 teaspoon salt, paprika, and cayenne. Cover and cook, stirring frequently, until vegetables have softened, 8 to 10 minutes.

Stir in water, scraping up any browned bits, and bring to boil over high heat. Stir in collard greens, 1 handful at a time; okra; and remaining 1¼ teaspoons salt. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer until greens are just tender, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in black-eyed peas; spinach, 1 handful at a time; and green beans and simmer until green beans and spinach are tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in vinegar and season with salt, pepper, and extra vinegar to taste. Sprinkle with scallions, if using. Serve.

Nutrition

• Calories: 243
• Total Fat: 15 g
• Saturated Fat: 1 g
• Unsaturated Fat: 10 g
• Trans Fat: 0 g
• Cholesterol: 0 miligrams
• Sodium: 909 miligrams
• Total Carbohydrate: 17 g
• Total Sugars: 3 g
• Protein: 7 g