Easy Comfort Food: Ribs, Collards, & Cornbread (NO dairy, egg, nut, soy*)

Are you still recovering from the holidays?  It shouldn't take this long to unpack all the snow stuff, put holiday decorations back in the garage, or find homes for all the new stuff the kids received for Christmas.  But for some reason in our house, it does.  So I'm still in survival mode.  I guess my number one resolution to keep the house cleaner is a work in progress.  And meal planning goes something like, "Hmm...what's in the fridge?"

So tonight, we had a simple yet satisfying meal of our favorite comfort foods--BBQ ribs, collard greens, and cornbread muffins--all dairy, egg, and nut free (*can be made soy-free by substituting rice milk or other soy-free milk in the cornbread) for my food allergic brood.

Slow-Cooked BBQ Pork Ribs

Ingredients:
Rack of Pork Ribs
Salt, Pepper, & Garlic Powder to taste
BBQ Sauce

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Season ribs on both sides with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.  Cut between ribs into sets of threes or fours, and place on foil-lined pan meat side down.
3. Seal tightly with foil.
4. Bake at 300 degrees for 4 hours.
5. Remove from oven and turn it up to 425 degrees.  Coat both sides of ribs with KC Masterpiece BBQ Sauce.

6. Bake at 425 for about 20 minutes or until crispy on the outside.  They're fall-off-the-bone tender and delicious!

Collard Greens

Collards (I buy the collard greens mix in a bag from Trader Joe's.  It's already washed and cut.) 
1/2 Yellow Onion, roughly chopped and 3-4 whole garlic cloves (or just use garlic powder)
Olive Oil
Salt, Pepper
1-2 cups of Chicken, Vegetable, or other stock

1. Saute onions and garlic in a heated pan with oil.
2. Add collard greens and salt and pepper, and saute for a minute or so.
3. Add 1-2 cups of stock, cover, and let simmer until stock has evaporated.
4. If you want it more tender, add more stock or water and let it simmer until the desired tenderness.

Blueberry Cornbread Mini Muffins (Note: Mix is made on shared equipment with wheat, milk, egg, and soy)

Adding blueberries to anything easily tempts by berry-loving 7-year-old, who said, "These are the best muffins in the world, mom." 

I use the Cornbread Muffin Mix from Trader Joe's, and use soymilk instead of cow's milk (use rice milk or other alternative milk to make this recipe soy-free), and Ener-G Egg Replacer instead of an egg.

Ingredients:
1-1/2 teaspoons of Ener-G Egg Replacer plus 2 tablespoons water
1/2 cup oil
3/4 cup soy (or other) milk
1/2 pint blueberries

For mini muffins:
1. Preheat oven to 325.
2. Add Ener-G and water to a mixing bowl and beat with wire whip or fork.
3. Beat in oil and milk.
4. Mix in cornbread mix until moistened.
5. Add blueberries if so desired.
6. Pour into lined muffin tin and bake about 25 minutes or until golden brown.

I love the whole corn kernels and moist texture of these muffins.  Save leftover muffins for quick off-to-school breakfasts.

Enjoy!