A time-honored tradition in Southern kitchens, collard greens have held an important place on the table for hundreds of years.

Although they're a staple in Southern cooking, they grow really well here in the Midwest.

And if you make them right, they are delicious, hearty and flavorful and so nutritious, chockablock with vitamins and minerals.

I'm Charity Nebbe.

On this Iowa Ingredient, we'll visit Root to Rise Farm in Central Iowa to learn some tips and tricks to growing and harvesting collards.

Then chef Katie Meyer from the Trumpet Blossom Cafe will stop by the studio kitchen to share some recipes using this flavorful green.

All that and more coming up next on Iowa Ingredient.

Funding for Iowa Ingredient is provided by the WT and Edna M. Dahl Trust, Chef Lisa LaValle of Trellis Cafe at the River Center, and Chef Michael LaValle of the Des Moines Embassy Club-- for more than 100 years, the Des Moines Embassy Club has provided a place to dine, celebrate, and do business, located in downtown Des Moines and in West Des Moines-- and Friends, the Iowa PBS Foundation.

I want to just put that on the side.

On the side.

Just add some more cantaloupe flavor.

[THEME MUSIC PLAYING] Chef Katie, you've done it again.

[LAUGHTER] Thank you so much.

[THEME MUSIC PLAYING] That's what I thought.

Cheers.

Indeed.

Collards are a member of the cabbage family, and they share a lot of characteristics with kale.

In fact, a lot of people use them interchangeably or prepare them in the same ways.

Collard greens have big fan-like leaves, and they have these tough stems that need to be removed before they're cooked.

Now, on their own, they're a little on the bitter side.

But add some vinaigrette, braised, sauteed, or stewed, the flavor becomes mild.

And they may just be the star of your next favorite dish.

The first time I heard the phrase root to rise was in a yoga class.

The idea is that you put energy into focusing on getting a strong base so that you can be strong rising up.

I studied soils at Iowa State.

And I really love how varied all of this land is.

And getting to know it has been really interesting, to know which pieces need protecting and which pieces can tolerate being farmed and growing food.

So I manage five acres here.

It's certified organic.

Got two beds of kale.

I grow six varieties of kale.

I really love greens.

[LAUGHS] So this variety is Old Timey Blue.

It's a variety from Seed Savers in Decorah.

It has a little bit different leaf shape.

It's got some pretty purple veins.

And it's got a little bit more variability from plant to plant, which we actually like here.

[LAUGHS] So it's one of the great things about direct-to-consumer marketing is that my customers like the variety.

They enjoy having beautiful food that isn't the same every week.

And then we harvest them mid-June through the first light frost.

They'll withstand a light frost.

And actually the flavor improves much like Brussels sprouts after a light frost.

Not that there is anything wrong with them throughout the season.

But the sweetest collard greens, just like the sweetest Brussels sprouts, are always after the first light frost.

As we trim the leaves around the bottom, the plant just keeps growing up.

So at some point over the season, they'll be two-feet tall in the center and look like little trees, pointing up.

Greens like this really keep quite a long time when they're fresh.

If they are cooled right away and fresh, that they'll last at least two weeks, which is unusual.

If you're used to just buying things from the grocery store, you won't find the greens last that long.

We dunk them to take the field heat out of them.

The water's cool.

And it helps cool them off initially.

And it also reduces any debris or soil off of them.

Brassicas, which would be any, let's see, collard greens, kale, broccoli, they have waxy leaves so the water doesn't sit on them very much.

So that's nice.

I usually just give them a shake or two.

My two favorite things to do without collard greens-- it kind of depends on the season.

In the late fall, I really love collard greens in green smoothies.

It's a little silly, but I do.

I think that people get stuck on the kale and the spinach.

And collard greens are really great for that.

My favorite days are harvest days, for sure, yeah.

Sometimes it's really hard.

Farming is hard.

But on harvest days and CSA pack days and getting to pack shares and distribute them to members and have little conversations with the members as they come pick up their food and see what they liked last week and see what they're looking forward to this week, and for me, that bounty, seeing all the hard work has produced and seeing the people that it goes to and feeds is really important.

And it's what keeps me going and doing this.

And now I'm here in the kitchen with Chef Katie Meyer.

Welcome back to the show.

Thank you.

And Katie, you grew up in the Midwest, although you're an import to Iowa, a transplant, as we like to say.

But you've really fallen in love with the state.

What do you like about living here?

Yeah.

I feel like it's just a really comfortable place to be as far as my surroundings and the people and the community and the way I feel supported by my peers and the people I've gotten to know and the institutions I've gotten to know.

And I feel like it's an exciting place but a safe place at the same time.

And I don't know.

There's just something about the rolling green prairies that feels very just inviting and comfortable and cozy.

But you still got your wide open spaces and-- yeah, it's lovely.

That's actually one of my favorite things about this show is that we really do get to showcase maybe this subtle beauty of our state, which I do think is incredibly beautiful.

But as someone who has a restaurant and cooks food for the community, you're part of that community building.

You're part of what created that sense of community, not just for you, but for so many others.

Yeah, I feel much more responsibility when you put it that way, but yes.

I also think there's a humility to the Midwest that I appreciate, that I take on too.

But, yeah, it's nice to be a part of something and to be a part of something.

I feel like-- I haven't lived in any big cities.

So I can't speak to what that experience is like.

But I appreciate that-- I feel like Iowa City and Iowa are big enough places, but they have a very small town feel.

And it's-- I know that I could always ask for help if I needed it with anything, really.

So that's something huge that keeps me here, I guess.

Yeah, we have this space for connection.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Well, we are going to cook with some collard greens today, which I am super excited about because obviously this is a regional food.

This is something people in the Southern United States have known and loved for generations and generations.

And I didn't eat them until I was an adult.

And I love them now.

So this is very exciting.

Great.

And why don't we get cooking?

All right.

We have some beautiful collard greens here.

What are we going to make?

So we are just going to do a very simple stewed collard greens.

And we're going to do a vegan version so we're going to use some different flavor enhancers that maybe you haven't seen before or have.

And a lot of people throw bacon into this, and that's totally fine, too.

If that's your jam, then you do that.

So we have a pan going over here, medium heat.

We're going to get some onions and garlic started.

And then I'm going to show you how to chop up the collard greens.

Here's just some vegetable oil, and then I have a little olive oil, too, for flavor.

And just some yellow onion and some garlic.

And I'll put a little salt and pepper on that.

And we'll let that go.

I'll let you stir it up a little bit.

And we'll let that cook while we're talking about the greens.

All right.

And I think some people are intimidated by collard greens because they get those giant leaves, and they think, what do I do?

Right.

So you can always treat it like you treat kale.

I don't know if people-- I feel like people are more familiar with kale than they are collard greens.

That's kind of how I approach it.

It's really great-- so we're going to cook the heck out of it.

But it's really great raw too, just, like, very thinly sliced and massaged with some oil and vinegar or whatever you like.

So you can definitely eat it raw, but we're going to cook it.

So there's a couple of different ways we could do this.

You could put it face down, I'd say, and then just run your knife along the stem.

Or you could kind of fold it over and tear it off the stem.

So there's a couple of different ways to do it.

I find this to be quicker.

So this is generally what I do.

You can see you don't get exactly all of the green off there.

And then again, I'm just going to rough chop this.

We could get super fancy.

And here, if you wanted to do it raw-- wasn't planning to do this, but I'll just show you what I would do.

So then you would just run your knife like this and make really thin ribbons.

Right.

So even though it's kind of a tough, chewy green, if it's that thin, it's going to soften up, especially with a little oil and vinegar.

Exactly, yeah.

Nice.

And these are all ready to go.

So why don't you stir that up a little bit more.

And then go ahead and dump all of those in there carefully.

And they'll cook down a lot, right?

A lot, a lot, right?

Yes, they will.

You can start with a lot of collard greens.

Uh-huh.

I think about all of the other greens that we use maybe more often than collard greens.

But they're just so healthy.

Yeah, they're really vibrant and super nutritious.

You could eat three leaves, and you'd be set for the day in some nutrients.

[LAUGHS] So just a little salt and pepper and chili flake on there.

And then I'm going to stir this up.

And then we'll add everything else.

It's nice to use tongs to kind of get the greens on the bottom of the pan there.

And you can see them already reducing.

Yes.

They cut down a lot.

They're steaming now.

And then we're going to add a bunch of liquids.

So they're going to kind of braise almost or stew.

So now we'll come in with some white pepper, which I got to tell you, I'm not a huge white pepper fan.

But in certain things I like to use it.

it has a really distinct taste, I feel like.

And here's some smoked paprika, and then a little maple, some soy sauce.

I love this.

I would never have thought to put these flavors together.

That's so good.

Oh, good.

[LAUGHTER] And then some apple cider vinegar.

Oh, it's starting to smell great.

A little more chili flake.

That smoked paprika has such a lovely aroma.

Yeah, it kind of adds that signature taste that we're going for.

So now I'll give everything really good stir.

And then I'm going to add some water, and we're going to cover it and let these cook down over medium low for about half an hour.

And they're going to darken up a lot, and they're going to release some liquid, and they're going to absorb the flavors that we're looking for.

And then we'll come back to those.

When they're done, I'll just add that water and cover it up.

There we go.

So we'll check these out.

They look good.

They've cooked down quite a bit, as you can see.

So this was about two bunches that we started with.

And you could probably get, like, four servings out of here as a side.

But you could definitely eat more.

So if you plan ahead.

Buy a lot.

Buy a lot.

Buy more than you think you should be buying.

And I made some cornbread to go with them.

Oh, fantastic.

So we'll get that and a little bit of butter on the cornbread.

Nice.

And then we can try that together.

Fantastic.

Thank you.

They smell great.

They look great.

Mm.

Mm-hmm.

Wow.

So savory.

The way everything plays together, the maple, the spice, the vinegar-- so good, absolutely.

Oh, Chef Katie, thank you so much.

Thank you.

So we had fairly traditional collard greens.

Now we're going to do something different.

What are we going to do?

We are going to use the whole collard leaf like a wrap.

So we're going to make little maybe burritos or wraps, whatever you want to call them.

We're going to use a filling.

And we have a little sauce.

So first we got some water boiling, very salted, kind of like the same as you would do when you were making pasta, so quite a bit of salt.

You want to taste it.

We want to season the leaves.

So that's going.

And then we also want to have ready here ice water, so cold water with ice.

And then we also added some more salt to this and some apple cider vinegar, like enough that you want to taste it, again to flavor the leaves.

Nice.

And then what we want to do just very quickly, we are going to prep these leaves, cut the stem off and then carefully just take your knife and kind of make this so that it will lay flat.

So it'll be a lot easier to roll.

Right.

And that would have been a little tough to chew.

Yeah, exactly.

It's a little more palatable.

So these leaves are actually kind of on the smaller side.

Those kind of giant ones that you see would be perfect for something like this.

But this just means our wraps are going to be smaller.

Dainty.

Yes.

[LAUGHS] Like us.

[LAUGHS] Yes.

So we'll just do three right now.

You could do more at a time in the pot.

But we'll just do three.

So carefully we'll put these in here.

And very quickly you're going to see that they brighten.

And we don't want to cook these very much at all.

We're just softening them so that they're pliable.

So really, this is about all we need.

Plus, they're smaller.

They are a little more delicate.

So I'm going to pull this out.

Immediately we'll put it in the ice water to stop it cooking and to cool it down.

And I love how that just heightens the green, too.

Yeah, it kind of makes it keep its color there.

So then we don't want to water log it.

You could leave it in there longer, though, if you needed.

And then we're going to take a clean towel and just blot it dry.

You could use a paper towel, of course.

So then we have our-- you can feel that.

It's much more pliable.

Yeah, I can get a tooth through this.

Yes.

[LAUGHTER] And then I'll take these other two out quick.

I'll dry them.

So we said earlier that sometimes I do things on here that I've never done before.

So I haven't done this exact thing before.

I've actually made them with raw leaves, which you can do.

But it wouldn't be quite as pleasant an experience.

It would still be delicious, but it would be harder to eat.

And this is nice because it adds an extra layer of flavor.

Correct.

Mm-hmm.

So now I'm going to take my leave, and I'm going to put a little bit of sauce on there.

So this sauce-- And what's in your sauce?

Yes, thank you.

[LAUGHTER] So this is a tahini sauce.

You can use a sesame paste.

So it's just tahini and some water and some lemon and some soy sauce.

And then we have here are filling, which is a nice little salad I made with some quinoa and beans and veggies.

And we're not going to put a whole lot in there.

Otherwise it's not going to roll up very well.

So this might be our Mulligan.

But we'll find out.

We'll give it a try.

So just like you're rolling a tiny little burrito, roll the sides in and the bottom and fold it up and over.

It almost looks like a dolma, doesn't it?

Yeah, it does, a stuffed grape leaf.

Yeah.

So that's our finished product.

Beautiful.

Yeah.

And I am going to slice into this one.

If you have a plate, we can-- I do.

--give this a try, just a tiny little bite.

And then if you want, I'm going to put a little sauce on mine.

I'll let you go first.

I will.

I'll take a little sauce on mine, too.

Wonderful.

Mm.

Mm.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

I mean, it's a great salad.

But I can-- the collard greens are just a little more savory.

And I feel like I'm doing something really good for my body.

Yes.

It's wrapped in a green thing.

And what a great lunch to take on the go.

Definitely.

These would keep.

Mm-hmm.

Fantastic.

Chef Katie, you've done it again.

Thank you so much.

Thank you!

The Philly cheesesteak, the Maine Lobster roll, Texas barbecue, LA street tacos-- regional specialties are tucked away in every corner of the country.

There is often a blend of cultural, historic, and geographic reasons as to why a food becomes a celebrated regional cuisine.

Zoom in to Iowa and there are probably a few dishes in the running for the food the state is best known for, including the hand-battered, deep-fried pork tenderloin, the Iowa pork tenderloin sandwich.

Several factors have led to the pork tenderloin's dominance as a regional staple.

And it partly goes back to the 19th century.

During these years, a tremendous movement set in from the countries of Southern and Eastern Europe.

When immigrants flooded into Iowa, they brought many cultural traditions with them, including food.

A schnitzel is a thin slice of meat fried in fat that is a culinary staple in places like Germany, Czechoslovakia, and Denmark.

The meat is traditionally veal and is served with a wedge of lemon or potatoes.

The evolution of the schnitzel to the pork tenderloin sandwich was the result of German-Austrian cuisine as interpreted with the ingredients available in the Midwest, pork instead of veal, transformed by a street food vendor, with a bun added for convenience.

Over the decades, the sandwich gained popularity in small town diners all over the Midwest, from Indiana to Illinois and Iowa.

It seems as though every small town cafe in Iowa has a tenderloin sandwich on its menu and has an almost revered standing as being the Iowa food.

In fact, it's so popular that the Iowa pork producers created the Tenderloin Trail.

It features 12 restaurants that each have their unique take on the classic sandwich.

I had a gentleman shortly after we won the award.

He came in, and he had driven 365 miles in that day one way to get a tenderloin from Minnesota.

Neil and Brenda Larson own Larson's Pub in Elkhorn, Iowa.

They won the coveted Best Tenderloin in Iowa award in 2007.

They are also part of the Tenderloin Trail.

And it's just been kind of fun.

We get to talk to people that are going to other places trying them.

And they compare them.

And it's just fun seeing how we compare with other places that are on the trail, too.

At its core, the sandwich is a piece of pork loin covered in breading and fried, no frills, and relatively straightforward.

But no two breaded pork tenderloin sandwiches are the same.

And the secrets for each recipe are held tightly by their owners.

Everybody makes them different.

The tenderizing it is pretty important.

A lot of people pound them out by hand.

The breading process, our ingredients are really pretty easy.

They've just got good seasoning in them.

Getting the oil temperature correct, the time cooking it correct-- and we always say ours are made with a lot of love, and that's the big difference right there because it's just my husband and I that do the cooking.

But they're always made with love.

Iowans take their tenderloin sandwiches seriously.

They may exist and be revered in other Midwestern states.

But few other foods elicit the passion and fervor of the Iowa tenderloin sandwich.

That's it for this week's show.

Thank you for traveling through our culinary landscape with us.

I'm Charity Nebbe.

See you next time for another episode of Iowa Ingredients.

Keep in mind that circumstances are always changing.

So please take a moment to check ahead if you're planning to visit a restaurant, farm, or event featured on the show.

[Captioning provided by] [Karasch] [800-621-5689 www.karasch.com] Funding for Iowa Ingredient is provided by the WT and Edna M. Dahl Trust, Chef Lisa LaValle of Trellis Cafe at the River Center and Chef Michael LaValle of the Des Moines Embassy Club-- for more than 100 years, the Des Moines Embassy Club has provided a place to dine, celebrate, and do business located in downtown Des Moines and in West Des Moines-- and Friends, the Iowa PBS Foundation, generations of family and friends who feel passionate about the programs they watch on Iowa PBS.