Who could have guessed that I would find another way to incorporate Mexican into my raw diet? Submitted for the approval of the Rustin followers, I call this recipe, “Bur-RAW-to”.

Despite what you may have heard, collards (when raw) are not bitter. They taste and act like any other green leaf vegetable and serve their tortilla-like purpose well. For this dish, the collards serve as the wrap and inside is a healthy dose of raw “refried beans”, corn off the cob, diced white onion, diced tomato, chopped cilantro and avocado slices.

To start this amazing meal, grab your food processor, cutting board, favorite knife and clear some room on the counter! I would like to add that you also need a paring knife or something equally as small and sharp so you can cut the stem out of the collards.

To prepare the collards, cut the leaves from the stalk and wash thoroughly. You need to make two piles of leaves: one for big leaves and another for smaller ones. You want two small leaves per big leaf for each burrito. To cut the stems out simply glide your knife along the leaf following the stem. You don’t have to follow the stem all the way up, just far enough so that the collard is flexible and easy to roll (instead of snapping with a fold). To arrange them in preparation to roll, put one small leaf on each bottom corner of the big leaf (see below photo).

To make the raw “refried beans” you will need: 2  1/2 cups raw sunflower seeds, 1 Tablespoon agave nectar, 1 Tablespoon cumin, 1/2 Tablespoon chili powder, 1/2 Tablespoon chipotle chile powder, 1 cup water, 1/3 jalapeño (washed and seeded), 1/4 cup onion and a handful of chopped cilantro. Put all of the above ingredients into the bowl of the food processor EXCEPT for the water and hit go! Once the seeds, veggies and spices have ground and combined together, add the water (never stopping the food processor). Taste and make sure the “beans” are to your liking and set aside while you cut up the rest of the veggies.

Once you have everything ready to go, position the leaves like I taught you and scoop two big ole spoonfuls of the “beans” onto the bottom of the leaves leaving enough room for you to grab hold of the bottom and roll. Spoon the other veggies on top of and in front of the beans. When it’s time to roll, you need to roll upwards tucking in the sides as you do. With every roll upward tuck in each side…it’s one roll at a time, never a continuous roll. Before you make the first roll upward, tuck in the sides at the bottom.

Booya!