A Good Chard Recipe

Wondering what to do with all the chard you might be seeing at the farmers' market? Wonder no more! A while back, Ianqui turned me on to Jack Bishop's cookbook A Year in a Vegetarian Kitchen, which is a great, seasonal, everyday cookbook. Here's his recipe, more or less, for sauteed greens over a white bean puree:

Heat oil in deep pan, and then throw in 2 thinly sliced onions. Cook until the onions are tender. Add 4 garlic cloves (I used less, as that's all I had on hand), and cook 1 minute. Add chard and some salt (he says 2 1/2 lbs of chard--I have no idea how much the bunch I had on hand weighed, to be honest--it looked small, so I had only used 1 onion; wash the chard before you chop it, and discard the stem and thick part of the rib). Cook until the chard is wilted, about 5 minutes (he says to cover and cook, but I didn't notice that part until I started typing here. oops.) Taste, and add salt and pepper to taste. Once the greens are wilted, you can keep them in the pot for up to 10 minutes covered before serving. Or so he says. I kept them in the pot, covered, for half an hour while waiting for Politica to come home, and they were still pretty tasty.

Serve over white bean puree: Bring 1 1/3 cups vegetable broth to boil in a pot. Put the brother in a a blender or food processor, and puree with 3 15 oz. cans of white beans (rinsed and drained). (I tried doing it in the pot with my immersion blender and it didn't work too well--not enough liquid? Also, I had only 1 can of beans, so I cut back on the broth accordingly.) Heat 3 minced medium garlic cloves in 2 T oil, then add the bean puree to the skillet, stirring constantly (or as often as your child/pet/spouse/partner/house will permit, which in my case was far from constant). It will thicken up! Season with salt and pepper when it's at the consistency you want.

This was easy and yummy.

I'm off to visit my father tomorrow, back later in the week, no doubt with tales to tell! Happy cooking, one and all. (and happy Yo-ing to Ianqui, of course!)