We’re big fans of stuffing vegetables inside of carbohydrates (see cabbage dumplings, potato pea samosas, and beet pierogies!). It’s a trick that works well with children and adults alike. No judgment.

In the case of this recipe, while it’s the same idea as spanakopita, you can’t really call it that, since it’s made with collard greens. You also can’t really rename it collardkopita as we hoped (doesn’t it just roll off the tongue?), since that just makes no sense whatever. So, I guess we’re stuck with the descriptive, but somewhat boring “collard phyllo triangles.” Good thing the flavor makes up for the title!

These little lovelies accompanied us to picnic club + fireworks this week. They are best right out of the oven when still crisp, but they were still good (although bordering on soggy) packed for a picnic. You ready? Here goes!

Collard Phyllo Trianges – adapted from Vegetarian Times

Ingredients:

• 16 oz. collard greens, stemmed and coarsely chopped
• 2 scallions and 2 Purplette onions, coarsely chopped (or 1 large shallot or 1/2 an onion or whatever you have hanging around the house)
• 2 Tbs. olive oil, plus more for brushing phyllo
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 ½ teaspoons balsamic vinegar
• 3 oz. goat cheese, crumbled
• 1 small pear, peeled and thinly sliced
• 12 sheets phyllo dough (6 oz.), thawed

Method:

1. Pulse collard greens, scallions, and onion in food processor until finely chopped.
2. Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add collard mixture and garlic, and sauté 5 to 7 minutes, or until collards have shrunk and are tender, and most of liquid has evaporated. Stir in vinegar, season with salt and pepper (if desired), and set aside to cool. Once cool, stir in goat cheese.
3. Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat baking sheet with cooking spray, or line with parchment paper. Place 1 phyllo sheet with long side closest to you on clean work surface; cover remaining phyllo sheets with damp kitchen towel to prevent drying. Brush phyllo sheet with oil. Stack 2 more phyllo sheets on top, brushing each with oil. Cut phyllo stack lengthwise into 4 strips.
4. Spoon 1 tablespoon collard mixture 1/2 inch from a short end of 1 phyllo strip. Top with 1 pear slice. Fold upper corner over filling to make a triangle. Continue folding triangle onto itself, across, and down to make triangle packet. Transfer to prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining phyllo strips, then repeat entire process with remaining phyllo sheets, collard mixture, and pear slices.
5. Brush triangles with oil, and sprinkle with kosher or sea salt, if desired. Bake 15 to 18 minutes, or until golden brown.

I’m not going to lie – working with phyllo dough is not my favorite. It probably would have helped to actually thaw it all the way before attempting to unroll it. Whoops! We actually broke/tore a bunch of it, which meant trying to piece it back together for the purposes of this recipe. It’s fine – we totally made it work. But learn from our mistakes and thaw it out.

Despite having lived in the south for two years, I had never eaten collard greens. (When confronted with the choice of cornbread or collards on the side, it was pretty much a no-brainer for me.) They taste pretty similar to other leafy greens and they paired really nicely with the leftover goat cheese we had hanging around the fridge. The pear was surprisingly subtle, but added a nice sweetness.

They probably could have stayed in the oven for a few more minutes to get crispier. For a really nice golden brown, we may have needed to add more olive oil than we did. But overall, these were a pretty delicious little addition to the picnic spread. And they were perfect in the toaster oven the next day!

Enjoy!