Oven-Roasted Zucchini with Collard-Peanut Pesto 

{By Bryant Terry}

 
 
 
 

This week on Dak & Ju, we made Bryant Terry's oven-roasted zucchini with collard-peanut pesto, from his book Vegetable Kingdom. Terry is an author and activist whose cookbook channels the flavors of the African Diaspora, with additional inspiration from his wife's roots in Asia. It's filled with 150 vegan recipes—the kind that service the ingredients so well, vegans and non-vegans alike will enjoy it. This recipe in particular is one we've been making all summer. Having the pesto itself, on hand, makes for great last-minute roasted vegetable side dishes, hearty wraps and other delights. If you're not vegan, it's also great with grilled meats.

The pesto is a combination of peanuts, fresh collard greens, lemon, garlic and miso. You can imagine the fatty, nutty, umami bomb this combination creates, with a brightness from both the collards and lemon juice. It's savory in the crave-worthy way we love. Terry describes this in his book as, "a vibrantly colored, mouth-watering collard-peanut pesto to add a little flair to this dish."

His inspiration came from courgettes avec des arachides (French for "zucchini with peanuts"), which he describes as a quintessential dish from the north-central African country, Chad.

Something we've been thinking a lot about is how we use collard greens in our own kitchens. Whether they're cooked down or sliced into thin, fresh ribbons, we love their hearty green abundance. Collard greens aren't new. But, if you happen to be new to collard greens (yay, welcome!) and are learning about them through us, it's important that we share a bit about their cultural context. Collards are deeply intertwined with the history of Black people in the South. "The collard greens were just one of a few select vegetables that African-Americans were allowed to grow and harvest for themselves and their families throughout times of enslavement, and so over the years cooked greens developed into a traditional food." (latibahcgmuseum.org) Perhaps one of the most infamous examples of white people acting as if a food is trendy or new is when Whole Foods Tweeted about collard greens with peanuts. The Tweet sparked critique about a brand positioning a legacy ingredient in this way.

Culinary historian and author Michael W. Twitty summarized it best: "This food [collards] connects us to the globe. It connects us to Africa. It connects us to slavery, to freedom, to sharecropping, to migration, to triumph, to survival. It’s a powerful symbol of our history, our social identity, and the cultural politics we negotiate our lives by. We don’t mind cultural diffusion. That’s a natural and important consequence of being human and living in community with other humans. However the “collard is the new kale,”/”ooh look whole animal cooking”/wow isn’t this food so barnyard tasting..” that’s got to end." (Links for full articles exploring the historical context of collard greens here and here). We hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we have. —Dak and Ju

 

Ingredients

  • 4 medium zucchini, diced into 1/2 in cubes

  • 1 Tbsp olive oil

  • 1/2 tsp kosher salt

  • Black pepper to taste

For the Pesto:

  • 2 cups loosely packed collard greens, stems removed, leaves roughly chopped

  • 1 clove garlic

  • 1/2 cup peanuts

  • 3 Tbsp white miso paste

  • 1 Tbsp lemon juice, plus more to taste

  • 1/2 cup olive oil

  • Kosher salt to taste

  • Black pepper to taste

 

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

  2. Cube zucchini and add to a large bowl. Drizzle with olive oil, salt and black pepper- toss to coat. Spread cubes evenly onto a baking sheet or cast iron pans, trying to ensure zucchini is in one layer.

  3. Bake zucchini for 15 to 20 minutes— you’re looking for the cubes to become a golden color, without becoming too soft. Feel free to check the cubes halfway through and adjust cook time accordingly.

  4. While your zucchini is baking, make the pesto. Remove the stems from your collard greens and roughly chop the leaves. Add the two cups of roughly chopped leaves, garlic, peanuts, miso paste, and lemon juice to a food processor or high powered blender. Mix until you have created a rough paste. Stop processing and scrape down the sides of the bowl.

  5. With the processor running, add in the olive oil in a steady stream— your rough paste will become more smooth with a pesto-like consistency once all of the oil is added. Taste and adjust lemon, add salt and black pepper per your flavor preferences.

  6. Once the zucchini is done baking, remove from oven. To plate, add a generous scoop of pesto to a plate or bowl, top with zucchini and sprinkle with chopped peanuts.

  7. Extra pesto can be stored in the fridge for up to one week in an airtight container.

Serves about 4