Greetings! Yesterday, the entire nation celebrated Juneteenth for the first time ever. As someone who grew up in Houston, I was familiar with the holiday due to the Texas origins, but this year felt different. As our nation contends with dual pandemics, covid and racial injustice, Juneteenth was a welcomed celebration for many of us. I decided to combine my birthday celebration (which is a few days later) with Juneteenth this year. It was SO fun! I pulled out some of my favorite recipes like my Mac and Cheese and my Sweet Potato Cake. Then I decided to create a new recipe, a Juneteenth Collard Green Salad.
For my menu, I HAD to include collard greens, but really did not want to do it the traditional way. You know with the ham hock and all of that. Wasn’t feeling it. So, I decided to opt for a salad using raw collard greens. Similar to kale, collards are tougher so it required me to create a nice dressing to soften them up a bit. In the end, I was pleasantly respond at how GOOD it turned out! Best of all, the colors played out well for Juneteenth. I intentionally played up the colors of the black liberation flag using bright greens and reds while serving in a black bowl. Adding olives is another option if you do not have a black bowl.
Recipe
Collard Green Salad
A traditional salad featuring collard greens and bright veggies.
Ingredients
- 16 oz Collard Greens I use the bagged kind because it is easy!
- 1 Yellow Bell Pepper
- 1 Red Bell Pepper
- 1/2 Cup Chopped Red Onion
- 1/4 Cup Chopped Green Onion
- 1/2 of a medium sized tomato Use the whole thing if you are a tomato lover
- 1/2 Cup Rice Vinegar
- 2 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
- 3 Cloves Fresh Garlic Use a garlic press to chop
- 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
- Seasonings of your Choice I use salt, pepper and herbs de provence.
- 1/3 cup Crumbled Feta Cheese
Instructions
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Start by chopping up the tomato, red bell pepper, yellow bell pepper, green onion, red onion and collard greens. Be sure your collard greens are rinsed and clean before chopping.
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In a separate bowl mix garlic, olive oil, apple cider vinegar and rice vinegar. Taste it and add in seasonings of your choice. I added salt, pepper and herbs de provence. I also added a pinch of sugar to balance out the vinegar.
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In a large salad bowl (preferably one with a lid), mix in your veggies, crumbled feta cheese and pour the vinegar mixture over the salad. Using tongs, toss the salad to ensure that all of the veggies are coated with the vinegar. Some call this "massaging" which softens the collards. Unlike romaine or iceberg lettuce, you want this to wilt a bit for a better texture. Store in the fridge for about an hour before serving to help with this process.
Serve with additional dressings if you like or with just the vinegar based dressing. Enjoy!
Juneteenth Takeover
I am SO excited to participate in the 2020 Juneteenth Cookout Takeover! Our hope is that we can encourage more folks to celebrate Juneteenth – a celebration that commemorates the end of slavery- and to amplify the food traditions of black culinary creatives!
Juneteenth (a merge of the words/date June Nineteenth) marks the date in 1865 that the last enslaved people in Texas learned of their freedom. For over 150 years since African Americans have commemorated the summer holiday through a wide range of food traditions. The list of recipes below provided a variety of traditional soul food dishes, some vegan spins as well as food representing the diaspora. Also, if you want to learn a bit more about the Juneteenth holiday, be sure to check out my quick video on Instagram (IGTV), or visit the Emancipation Park Conservancy website. Located in the Third Ward neighborhood of Houston, Texas, Emancipation Park was purchased by freedmen to celebrate Juneteenth. The park has continued to host Juneteenth celebrations since it’s purchase in 1872. Third Ward is home to Houston legends like Debbie Allen, Phylicia Rashad, Beyonce and George Floyd.
Juneteenth Takeover Recipes
Please enjoy the below list of recipes and be sure to check out #JuneteenthTakeover on social media for more!
A Girl Called Adri | Blackened Catfish
Beautiful Eats & Things | Spiced Grilled Peaches
Black Girls Who Brunch | Brown Butter Sweet Potato Cake
Brazilian Kitchen Abroad | Brazilian Collard Greens with Bacon
Britney Breaks Bread | Buttermilk Fried Chicken with Sour Cream and Honey Sauce
Brownbelle | Watermelon Hibiscus Whiskey Smash
Butter Be Ready | Chicken and Waffles
Chef and Steward | Watermelon and Feta Salad
Chef Curl Ardee | Honey and Butter Cornbread
Chenée Today | Lemon Icebox Pie
Christy Irene | Crawfish Etoufee
Collards Are The Old Kale | Guaymas Shrimp
Confessions of a clean foodie | Mint Peach Spritzer
Cooking to a T Jamaican | Beef Patties
Dash of Jazz | Golden Pineapple Pound Cake
Dish It With Tisha | Honey Jerk Shrimp
DMR Fine Foods | Blackberry Ginger Soda
Domestic Dee | Easy Berry Fruit Salad
Dude That Cookz | Cajun White Beans
Erique Berry Co | Three Green Summer Salad
Ethically Living | Vegan Jackfruit Jamaican Patties
Food Fidelity | Nigerian Beef Suya Skewers
Food Is Love Made Edible | Smothered Okra with Chicken & Sausage
FoodLoveTog | Braised Cabbage & Johnny cakes
Forks and Straws | Cassava Corn Waffles with Shrimp Creole
Geo’s Table | Curried Potato Salad
Gristle & Gossip | Sweet Potato Honey Cornbread Cake
Heal Me Delicious | Trinidadian Callaloo
Jamieson Diaries | Crockpot Smoked Red Beans
Kenneth Temple | Red Velvet Biscuit with BBQ Brisket
Kenya Rae | Pork free baked beans
Lenox Bakery | Sweet Potato Cheesecake
Maple Points | Peas & Rice – Guyanese Style
Marisa Moore Nutrition | Fresh Peach Iced Tea
Meiko and the Dish | Strawberry Cornbread Skillet Cobbler
Murielle Banackissa | Vegan Saka Saka (Congolese Cassava Leaf & Spinach Stew)
My Fabulous Food | Black eye peas with smoked turkey
Nik Snacks | Easy BBQ Pork Ribs
On Ty’s Plate | Watermelon Limeade
Open Invitation Entertainment | Coconut Collard Greens
Orchids + Sweet Tea | The Ultimate Vegan Mac + Cheese
Our Perfect Palette | Jollof Rice
Peaches 2 Peaches | Vanilla Cake With Caramel Poached Pears
Pink Owl Kitchen | Strawberry Buttermilk Biscuits
Razzle Dazzle Life | Southern Peach Cobbler
Rosalynn Daniels | Southern Tomato Pie
Savor and Sage | Black-Eyed Pea Salad
Savory Thoughts | Jus Citron (Haitian Lemonade)
Seasoned To Taste | Cajun Shrimp Deviled Eggs
Sense & Edibility | Blackberry Cobbler
Slice & Torte | Fried Softshell Crab
Slight Kitchen Werk | Roasted Sweet Potato Salad
Sweet & Sorrel | Baked Jerk Chicken
Sweet Savant | Black Eyed Peas and Sweet Potato Salad
That Green Lyfe | Vegan Red Red Stew (Spicy Ghanaian Black-Eyed Peas) and Plantain
The Dana Renee Way | Sweet Potato Cornbread
The Hangry Woman | Jamaican Jerk Wings
The Hungry Hutch | Southern-Style Sweet Tea
The Kitchenista Diaries | Grilled Lemon Pepper Wings
The Vgn Way | Juneteenth Hibiscus Strawberry Vegan Ice Cream
This Worthey Life | Strawberry Soda
This African Cooks | Ghanaian kebabs Whole30 style
Vegan With Curves | Slow Cooker Black Eyed Pea Sweet Potato Soup
Whisk it Real Gud | Southern Sweet Potato Pie
Wow! This salad looks tasty! I can’t wait to give it a try.
This looks fantastic! I have yet to master cooking collards, so I might just have to try your recipe out!
I’m sure this will be a five star winning recipe. I can’t wait to give it a try.
It’s so interesting to me that I’ve never had a salad made with collards greens. I have no idea why because it’s genius.
Never thought of this until now — the idea of using collard greens in a salad! Love collard greens and this is a dish we can make in the summer versus waiting for the Fall.
Ooohhh girl! Thank you for putting us on! This salad was delish! Never thought of this until I found this post!
This salad looks so colorful and delicious. I haven’t used collards in a salad before and will definitely try out your recipe!
This is an amazing idea to use collards in a fresh, warm-weather way! Perfect for Juneteenth!
I am so excited to make this recipe! I love collard greens and these look delicious!
I love the flavors in this salad. Greens are my favorite, so this combo was perfect!
Obsessed with this! I’m such a huge fan of salads, and this one has all of the right elements!
I never thought of using collard greens before in a salad as I always cook them. This is such a healthy and ingenious idea!
This salad was so good! Great combination of colors and flavors.
Love this salad! It’s perfect for summer!
Absolutely loved this salad, had it with some grilled salmon and it was SO good!
I didn’t even think about adding meat or fish to it, but that is a good idea!
This Collard green salad looks amazing! I love all of the detailed directions for when I try it.
So vibrant!!! Can’t wait to try this salad!!
Does anyone know if one can incorporate black eyed peas into this dish ? It looks delish, but I want to add black eyed peas for extra nutrition and flavor but I don’t want them to ruin the flavor .
I won’t bore you with how different my version was, but I’m so grateful that you helped me realize collards don’t have to be cooked to death. Thank you.
This is an excellent salad and the dressing is perfect for it. I added a teaspoon of coconut sugar to the dressing to balance out a bit and it turned out wonderfully.