Beet Risotto with Greens

This exquisite dish is from Deborah Madison's cookbook Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone.  Her description of the "jewel-toned" dish intrigued me, and I'm kind of a sucker for beets anyway, so I had to try it.  Scott, on the other hand, is a hard sell on beets, but even he liked this unusual and lovely dish.  The color is brilliant!

Ingredients:

5.5 - 6.5 c. vegetable stock or bouillon

3 T. butter or a mixture of butter and olive oil (I always use vegan margarine in place of butter.)

1/2 c. finely diced onion

1.5 c. Arborio rice (It's important to use this type of rice, which gives risotto its creamy texture.)

1/2 c. dry white wine

2 T. chopped parsley

2 T. chopped basil or 1 T. dried basil

2 - 3 medium beets, peeled and grated, about 2 cups

2 - 3 c. greens (beet greens, chard, kale, spinach, or collards - stems removed, finely chopped)

salt and freshly ground pepper

grated zest and juice of 1 lemon

Method:

Have the stock simmering on the stove.  Heat the butter in a wide, deep pot, add the onion, and cook over medium heat for 3 minutes, stirring frequently.  Add the rice, stir to coat it well, and cook for 1 minute.  Add the wine and simmer until it's absorbed, then stir in half of the parsley and all of the basil, the grated beets, and the chard, kale, or collard greens (if using...if using beet greens or spinach, wait).  Add 2 c. stock, cover, and cook at a lively simmer until the stock is absorbed.  Begin adding the remaining stock in 1/2-cup increments, stirring constantly until each addition is absorbed before adding the next.  When there is 1 c. of stock left, add the beet greens or spinach, if using.  Taste for salt (I'm generous with this maligned seasoning.), season with pepper, then stir in the lemon zest and juice to taste.  Serve with the remaining parsley.

Swiss Chard with Potatoes

If you've been reading posts since this summer, you know I've had a ton of Swiss chard on my hands from the garden.  It's been my pleasure to try to find new and interesting things to do with this garden green, because we had great success with it this year.  Here's a delicious dish based on a recipe from Rick Bayless's Authentic Mexican cookbook.  I served it as an entrée with a side of black beans and with garlic toasts, but you could easily use it as a side dish, too.



Ingredients:

1 T. extra-virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, thinly sliced

1 fresh jalapeno, stemmed, seeded, deveined, and thinly sliced

1 (maybe 2 - try it both ways) medium tomato, cored and coarsely chopped

6 small red-skinned boiling potatoes, cut in 1/2-inch dice

1/4 c. water

3/4 t. salt, separated

1 bunch Swiss chard (about 6 large leaves), stems cut out and leaves sliced crosswise into 1-inch strips

Method:

In a large, lidded skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat.  Add the onion and jalapeno and sauté, stirring frequently, until the onion is lightly browned (about 7 - 10 minutes).  Add the tomato to the pan and cook a little longer to reduce the liquid slightly.

Stir in the potatoes, water, and 1/2 t. salt.  Cover and cook over medium-low heat until the potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes.

Mix in the chard and remaining 1/4 t. salt.  Cover and cook over medium heat until the greens are tender, about 3 minutes.  Stir to coat the vegetables in the tomato-y broth, and serve immediately.

Swiss Chard Tacos

Not familiar with Swiss chard?  It's a leafy green vegetable with edible celery-textured stems, related to beets.  Use it like spinach in general cooking.  We've had a very successful year with Swiss chard in our garden, so I've been looking for new things to do with it.  I'd seen Rick Bayless do Swiss chard tacos on his PBS show Mexico: One Plate At A Time before and had made a mental note of it just because it was a vegetarian recipe.  However, I didn't have an immediate use for it.  Later, I was unable to remember exactly what he did.  You can imagine my delight when I found this recipe for Swiss chard tacos in Martha Stewart's Living magazine.  As usual, I have adapted the recipe, if only slightly, to suit my tastes and needs.  And as always, you can definitely do the same!

Ingredients:
1.5 T. extra-virgin olive oil
1 small red onion, sliced into 1/4-inch-thick rounds and separated into rings
3 small cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
5 large leaves Swiss chard (stems removed and composted), washed and coarsely chopped
1 c. cooked pinto beans (canned is fine), drained and rinsed
1/4 t. coarse salt, or to taste
freshly ground black pepper
6 taco-sized corn tortillas (I haven't considered myself a fan of corn tortillas in the past, but I enjoyed them in this recipe.)

Method:
In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat.  Cook the onion rings until soft.  Add garlic slices, and cook 1 minute more.  Stir in the chard, and sauté until the greens are wilted.  Add the beans, and cook until warmed through.  Season with the salt and pepper.

Heat tortillas on a hot cast-iron griddle coated with non-stick cooking spray, turning so that each side is warmed and slightly browned.

Spoon chard filling into corn tortillas.  If desired, also top with Tomatillo and Chipotle Salsa.

Serves 2.

Stuffed Chard Leaves

Last night I finally tried a special-looking recipe I cut out of The Commercial Appeal (our daily newspaper) several weeks ago.  It turned out great!  It tasted good, and it looked beautiful.  Perfect for a dinner party.  As always, I made some modifications to Carol Borchardt's original recipe.  Let me share it with you!

Ingredients:
6 large leaves of Swiss chard
salt
1 T. extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 small onion, chopped (about 1/4 cup)
1 medium carrot, peeled and diced
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 small lemon, zested and juiced
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
3/4 c. couscous

2 T. fresh oregano, chopped (optional)
non-stick cooking spray
1 14.5-oz. can fire-roasted tomatoes
1 t. crushed red pepper flakes (or to taste - optional)

Method:
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

Set a pot of generously salted water to boil.  The pot should be large enough to accommodate the Swiss chard leaves.  Prepare an ice water bath in a large bowl.  Wash the Swiss chard leaves.  Once the water is boiling, use the stem of the first leaf as a handle to blanch the leaf in the boiling water for 5 seconds.  Immediately plunge into the ice water bath.  Set the leaf aside, and repeat with each leaf until all are done.

Using a sharp knife, cut the wide part of the stem out of each leaf using a V-shape, about 1 inch up from the bottom of the leaf.  Finely chop the section of the stems that were removed.  Set aside.

Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet that has a matching lid.  Add the onion and carrots to the warmed oil and sauté until the onion is translucent (about 6 - 8 minutes).  Add half of the garlic to the onion and carrot and sauté for another 30 seconds.  Add 3/4 cup water, lemon juice, lemon zest, and salt and pepper, to taste, and bring to a boil.  Stir in the couscous, cover the skillet with the lid, and remove from heat.  Let sit 5 minutes, then fluff the couscous with a fork.  Stir in the chopped chard stems and the oregano, if using.

Spray a small baking dish (large enough to hold the 6 chard rolls) with nonstick cooking spray.  Combine the fire-roasted tomatoes, the remaining minced garlic, and the crushed red pepper flakes in the baking dish.  Taking one leaf, put 1/6 of the couscous mixture in the center of the leaf.  Fold the V-cut side up over the filling, fold the 2 long sides of the leaf over the filling, and roll to the tip of the leaf.  Place the stuffed chard leaf, seam-side down, in the sauced baking dish.  Repeat with remaining leaves, then cover the baking dish with foil.

Bake for 20 minutes, or until heated through, and serve.

I served this with salted black beans and yeast rolls.  It made a beautiful presentation!

Swiss Chard with Pasta and a Lemon Shot

Don't judge me, but tonight was the very first time I've cooked with Swiss chard which, I believe, is a member of the beet family. I tried to grow it in my autumn garden this year, but I think I sowed the seeds too late for them to be productive. They sprouted, but then they didn't go anywhere. Maybe I didn't water them enough. I'm a VERY lazy gardener, especially when it comes to watering.

So while Scott's catching up with his very first best friend, Kareem, with whom he reconnected on Facebook (I guess Facebook is not 100% evil.), and while Romeo plays with a bug he found, and while Grace and Elvis sleep despite the fact that they've been sleeping since they "got up" this morning, I thought I'd post my Swiss chard project for the evening. It turned out fabulously!! I can't wait to eat it again! Here goes:

2 T. extra-virgin olive oil
2 T. vegan margarine
1 shallot, minced
1 bunch Swiss chard (I got the kind with brilliantly red stems.), washed
1 t. salt
freshly ground black pepper, to taste (I like a generous amount. You may not.)
2 cloves garlic, minced
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 lb. penne pasta (or, you know, you choose the shape)

First, rip the washed chard leaves from their stems and cut them into bite-sized pieces. Thinly slice the stems, sort of like celery.

Start a large pot of salted water on the stove to reach boiling. Cook the pasta according to package directions.

In the meantime, melt the vegan margarine with the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Sauté the minced shallot in the oil/margarine combination until it is transparent. (Don't all recipes start sort of like this?) Add the chard stem slices, the salt, and the black pepper. Sauté for 4 minutes, then add the garlic. Sauté a couple of minutes more, until it feels right. Once it feels right, add the chard leaves to the oil/butter/shallot/stem mixture and sauté until the leaves are wilted and coated with the oily sauce that is developing. Chard is a very wet green, and this will make a lot of moisture in the chard mixture. This is fine, so don't panic. Once the leaves are wilted down to a satisfying consistency when you bite one, squeeze the 1/2 lemon over the leaves and mix thoroughly.

Toss this with the finished pasta and serve immediately (with more freshly ground pepper, if you like...I do.). How cool are you for cooking with Swiss chard?!