Sukuma Wiki (Kenyan Braised Collard Greens and Ground Beef)

Tonight is the night we are headed to Accanto for Portland Dining Month, this day needs to go a little quicker I'm so excited!  Now here is a fun story...at 4am my fiance and I were woken up by the sound of gushing water so we ran out into our kitchen to see gallons of water pouring down from our ceiling.  We immediately put all our trash cans out to catch the water falling and tried to dry up some water with towels but the water kept coming.  I immediately texted our upstairs neighbor to see what was overflowing in her bathroom and she said it was the toilet (clean water). I think it continued to pour for about 20 minutes and this whole time we realized there was nothing we could do but watch and wait for it to stop (pictured below).  Once it finally started slowing down we just went back to bed.  I thought about calling into work to deal with all of this when I woke up several hours later but then decided hell no I don't want to deal with this, I'm going to work and email my landlord.  I am so thankful that we don't own this house or a house yet because what a mess.  So I am very happy it is Friday but I am definitely tired and not wanting to go home.  So let's talk about yummy food now, I adapted this amazing paleo recipe last night for a very delicious and healthy meal.  Enjoy!

Serves 4

The Ingredients
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 yellow onion, coarsely chopped
1 jalapeño pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp each sea salt, cumin, coriander
1/2 tsp each black pepper, cinnamon, ground ginger, fennel seeds, turmeric
1 lb ground beef
1 bunch collard greens (about 8 leaves), stems removed, sliced or chopped
16 cherry tomatoes, quartered
1 tsp lemon juice
Apple cider vinegar (just a drizzle over your bowl, optional)


The Process
1.  Warm the olive oil in a skillet on medium heat for a minute, then add the onion. Sauté the onion until softened, about four minutes. Add the chopped garlic and jalapeño and sauté until fragrant, about one minute.

2.  Add the ground beef and seasonings, and cook until mostly done, about six minutes, stirring frequently so the ground beef doesn’t clump.  Then add the collard greens and tomatoes, and sauté until the collard greens are wilted, about four minutes. Stir everything around carefully as it cooks – be sure to do this step gently so you don’t mush up the tomatoes.

3.  Add the lemon juice and season to taste by adding salt and pepper as needed, and serve immediately.