When gumbo turns green

“Surely you know Leah Chase,” the late, great Nathalie Dupree said with her trademark sly grin. She was leading me around by the arm at the annual conference of the International Association of Culinary Professionals. We were in New Orleans, and Nathalie was doing what she did best: connect people.

“I do,” I said, relieved that Nathalie hadn’t stumped me as we approached the diminutive chef dishing out bowls of greens to guests. Leah Chase! The matriarch who had turned Dooky Chase into a legend of New Orleans cooking, who had cooked for presidents, whose restaurant had been host to countless meetings of civil rights activists who strategized there back when it was illegal for black and white diners to dip their spoons into gumbo at the same restaurant table. Just months before I met her, in fact, she had admonished then-presidential-candidate Barack Obama about adding hot sauce to her gumbo before tasting it.

Table of Contents

• My next Zoom cooking class: SOUP!

• I break for animals: Wally

• Recipe: Gumbo z'Herbes

• More favorite greens recipes

Chase, who died in 2019, was arguably the most famous proponent of one of the lesser-known gumbos (outside of Louisiana, anyway) in the canon: gumbo z’herbes, the dish I first tasted at her station at the IACP conference that day. Now, you may not realize that gumbo is made in all sorts of ways, and Chase told me the traditions surrounding this one, especially that you use as many types of greens as possible, preferably an odd number. It’s a Lenten specialty, and was originally made without meat, but Chase’s version included smoked ham, two kinds of sausages and beef brisket.

Chase and her gumbo captured my heart that day, and I have made it many dozens of times over the almost two decades since I first set eyes on her. At first I took to making it with andouille alone, until I transitioned to a plant-based diet and my go-to spice, smoked Spanish paprika, jumped into the pot.

For my second solo-cooking book, “Eat Your Vegetables,” I included a version scaled for one, designed to use leftover greens and their potlikker so it could come together quickly. But since I cook for three these days (or, at least when The Teenager is interested in eating my cooking rather than getting jerk chicken, fries and lemonade from his favorite carryout place), I’ve since scaled it back up.

I made it again yesterday as we were awaiting the snowy onslaught forecast to start hitting us that evening. When other shoppers were snapping up the trio of snow-day staples (milk, bread, eggs), I stuffed as many bunches of greens as I could in my cart. Collards. Swiss chard. Dandelion greens. Kale. Wait — that’s an even number! I couldn’t bring myself to break with tradition, so I threw in a half head of romaine lettuce hanging out in the fridge, getting the amount just up to the 3 pounds I was after.

Many gumbo z’herbes recipes have you boil the greens in one pot and start the gumbo in another, lightly browning a roux and cooking the trinity in it before adding the cooked greens, potlikker and meats and cooking it some more. Instead, I build everything in one pot, because unlike that old saying about heads, one pot is better than two, especially for us cooks who either wash our own dishes or depend on a spouse who gets cranky if we leave too much of a mess.

With the goal of not wasting food, I often cook the stems of greens first, with the aromatic vegetables, rather than discarding them. But there are a lot of stems on 3 pounds of greens, and I just didn’t want them all in there, texture-wise, so into the compost bucket they went. (I’m fortunate that D.C. has started a curbside compost pickup program.)

As it was originally developed as a Catholic fasting-day dish, some of the traditions surrounding the making of gumbo z’herbes are undeniably religious. Some cooks say you have to include nine types of greens to represent the nine churches many Catholics visit on Good Friday, a number that in turn represents the novena, the circle of nine prayers. Others say it should be seven to represent Jesus’ last words on the cross.

My favorite explanation of the number came straight from Leah Chase, who told me that the more types of greens you use, the more friends you’ll make in the coming year.

I believe in the power of friendship the way other people believe in God, so the next time I make gumbo z’herbes, I plan to use so many types of greens I lose count. Who’s with me?

My next Zoom cooking class: SOUP!

Because of the impending snowpocalypse, I postponed my third Zoom cooking class, and it’s now set for Saturday, Jan. 31, at noon. (I hope all of you who signed up got my email notifying you about this!) I’m going to show you how to turn (nearly) any vegetable you want into a great soup. We’ll talk Instant Pot, slow cooker, stovetop, oven, immersion vs. upright blenders, and the all-important topic of texture and garnishes that can improve it.

As always, you get 25 percent off a ticket to the class as a subscriber to this newsletter; just use the promo code “eatatjoes”! And don’t worry; if you just want to watch and not cook along, you’re welcome to do that. And if you can’t make it live but want to watch later, your ticket gets you access to a recording.

I break for animals:
Wally

Recipe: Gumbo z’Herbes

Makes 6 servings // Time: Weekday // Storage: Refrigerate for up to 4 days.

Ingredients

• ¼ cup vegetable oil

• ¼ cup all-purpose flour

• 2 teaspoons Spanish smoked paprika (pimentón)

• 1 teaspoon fine salt

• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, or more to taste

• 1/2 teaspoon filé powder (optional)

• 8 cloves garlic, chopped

• 1 large yellow onion, chopped

• 1 celery stalk, chopped

• 1 green bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and chopped

• 3 pounds mixed greens, such as collards, kale, Swiss chard, spinach, watercress, lettuce, green cabbage or parsley

• 6 cups water

• 4 cups hot cooked brown or white rice

• 2 scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced, for garnish

Directions

In a Dutch oven or other large pot over medium heat, heat the oil. When it shimmers, whisk in the flour and cook, whisking constantly, until the roux takes on a light caramel color in spots, 5 to 10 minutes.

Sprinkle in the smoked paprika, salt, red pepper flakes and filé (if using) and stir in the garlic, onion, celery and bell pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, until the onions turn translucent, 6 to 8 minutes. (Scrape the bottom of the pan when you stir to keep the roux from burning.)

Add the greens and water and cook until the greens are very tender, about 30 minutes. Taste and season with more salt as needed.

Divide the rice among bowls, spoon the gumbo over the rice, and serve hot.

More favorite greens recipes

These are gift links to the recipes at the Post. Note that they require you to register but not subscribe. Gift links are free to access for 2 weeks, so if you want to come back to any of these recipes but don’t subscribe or want to subscribe, I suggest you find a way to save them!

Greens Grilled Cheese

Braised Collard Greens With Miso and Smoked Paprika

Tofu Curry With Mustard Greens