Lebanese Collard Stalk Dip

Collard greens are a staple in Middle Eastern cooking, especially in Lebanon, where they’re often used interchangeably with grape leaves. Collard greens stuffed with a mix of rice, meat, and warm spices and cooked slowly to achieve a tender texture are known locally as silik mahshi in Arabic. Fortunately, there’s also a tasty vegan version that’s just as good!

Don’t toss those tough stalks that are a challenge to roll! In a display of culinary resourcefulness, they can be transformed into a flavorful dip known as mutabal silik, which translates to collard dip. Mutabal silik is a beloved Lebanese dip that will win over even the most ardent collard skeptics.

This dip fits right into the tradition of using lemon, garlic, and tahini as a base for many Middle Eastern dips, including hummus, baba ghanoush, beetroot dip, and white bean dip. Specifically, collard dip contains six ingredients: cooked collard stems, lemon juice, tahini, salt, garlic, and olive oil. It’s simple to prepare and is great as a light meal or a side dish. Serve with warm pita or as part of an appetizer spread of small plates.

1. Place the stalks in a pan and cover with water. Bring to a boil, add the sugar, and cook uncovered for 15 minutes or until tender. Drain to remove the excess liquid.

   Transfer the collard stalks to a bowl using an immersion blender to process to a rough paste. Add the crushed garlic, tahini, lemon juice and salt, mix well and transfer to a plate.

   Using the back of a spoon, create a well in the middle of the paste. Add some olive oil to the well.

   Serve with pita bread.