A Request from a Fellow Blogger - BBQ Baked Beans, Sausage, & Collard Greens

As a mentioned a bit ago, we learned to cook collard greens thanks to our CSA box. I am fortunate that Craig is such an adventurous eater and was up for figuring out something to make with them. My only experience with greens was last year when I attempted to stir fry them (?) in one of the teen mom’s cooking class I taught. The girls indeed thought I was crazy and quickly realized I had never prepared such before. Their recommendation for the most tasty collards is boiled with ham hocks (what are ham hocks?) for a few hours. Did not sound too appealing (or healthy) to me. So I had a challenge.

I figured I couldn’t go too wrong with this dish, basically sweet, spicy baked beans with Italian chicken sausage and the greens. And I was right. The greens give it an interesting texture and contrast nicely with the baked beans. This was tasty. Really homey, kind of addictive. I went back for seconds and thirds. Really economical and any kind of beans would work. I could see making it without the sausage simply as a nice side.

BBQ Baked Beans & Sausage
1/2 cup prepared barbecue sauce - I used St. Louis' Pappy's Smokehouse Original BBQ Sauce
1/2 cup water
2 T tomato paste
1 T molasses
1/8 t salt
Freshly ground pepper to taste
1 T canola oil
1 medium onion, chopped
4 cups chopped collard greens (about 10 ounces), tough stems removed
12 oz. cooked chicken sausage links, halved lengthwise and sliced
2 15-oz. cans great northern, rinsed well and drained

Whisk barbecue sauce, water, tomato paste, molasses, salt and pepper in a medium bowl.

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and collard greens and cook, stirring occasionally, until the collards are wilted, 3 to 5 minutes.

Add sausage and cook, stirring, until beginning to brown, about 3 minutes more.

Reduce heat to medium-low; add beans and the sauce mixture to the pan. Gently stir to combine, cover and cook until heated through, about 3 minutes.

Serves 4.