Callaloo, Caribbean comfort food

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I’ve found that there are as many recipes for a regional favorite food as there are cooks who prepare it. 

A good example of that in the US is dressing or stuffing that is a traditional dish served with turkey at Thanksgiving. Cooks might disagree on what kind of bread to use or if onions, celery or carrots are needed. Do you use milk? Eggs? How about the giblets from the turkey, or maybe some oysters? Do you stuff this mixture into the bird to cook or cook it in separate pan? 

In our house it was always made with cornbread and never stuffed inside of a bird. My mother and grandmother had a traditional argument. Mom would say that grandmother always put sage in her dressing and grandmother would reply, “I never put sage in my dressing!” The recipe for that is here. 

I saw a picture of a dish online that looked like one of my favorite Indian dishes, Saag, but it was from the Caribbean. It was called Callaloo. 

As I did some research it looked like this was a traditional dish, cooked according to each household’s traditions and using the local and seasonal ingredients available. That appealed to me in a big way!

Callaloo is primarily made of green leafy vegetables like spinach, but often those found regionally in the Caribbean islands. Some recipes call for kale, taro leaves, amaranth leaves, water spinach, chard or collard greens. They almost always call for a hot pepper like a scotch bonnet, but I looked for one that might be toned down a little. Cooks also could use many other vegetables. I looked at recipes that called for okra, sweet potato, pumpkin, tomato, plantains or bell pepper. Onion, garlic and allspice were fairly typical, but some also called for coconut milk or butter. 

The recipe I finally decided on used spinach and collard greens, and called for butternut squash and coconut milk. The spices are thyme, Allspice and ginger root. 


It turned out to be very yummy. A very different dish from the Indian Saag, because the spices are so different. It was full of a variety of good vegetables and I paired it with rice and a roasted fish filet. I have a about a cup of it leftover for a lunch. 

Callaloo, Caribbean comfort food

Yield: 2-4 servings (Depends on whether this is your main dish or a side.)

Time: 1 hour

Ingredients: 

1-2 tbsp light olive oil

8 oz butternut squash cubes, roasted until tender

1 lg carrot, ½ inch slices and roasted

½ med onion, minced

6 clvs garlic, minced

1 tbsp ginger root, minced

8 oz collard greens

8 oz spinach

1 tsp fresh thyme, minced

2 dried Thai peppers

1 tsp fresh Thyme, minced

½ tsp freshly ground Allspice

1 cup vegetable stock

½ can coconut milk

2 scallions, sliced

Salt and pepper to taste

Toss squash and carrot in half of the olive oil and salt lightly. Roast at 350 until tender and toasted on the corners. (before and after roasting pictures)



Put the remaining oil into a skillet with the onions, garlic and ginger. Sauté until slightly tender. Add the spinach and collard greens, thyme, Allspice and Thai pepper. Add the vegetable stock. Simmer together for 20-40 minutes, until the liquid reduces. Taste and add salt and pepper as needed. 


When most of the liquid is gone, remove the peppers and finish with the coconut milk and scallions. Stir and keep cooking on low for 5-10 minutes to allow the flavors to mingle, but do not boil. 



Serve over rice.


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