A Leaf to Love

With my reserved chard leaves burning a hole in my refrigerator, I had to finally break down and turn the stove on. While a hot meal on a hot day cooked in a hot kitchen is something I've been trying to avoid this summer, the mountain of chard in my fridge was wanted to be part of something warm, rustic, and wholesome. Grilling just wasn't going to cut it (and freezing was out of the question).

What I came up with was this: white bean chard stew. By keeping it light and simple it really didn't seem summer inappropriate. I think that a rich and heavy stew might not have been such a good idea, but this one really hit the spot. It takes a little time, although it would take a lot less if you used canned beans, but it was actually very easy and since I chopped the vegetables after I started cooking the beans it ended up coming together fairly quickly. All said and done, the stew was a delicious, healthy, and bright way to enjoy some summer produce. Oh, and the chard was the best part. Earthy and vibrant.

White Beans and Chard

Feeds 2 hungry people

1 cup dry white beans, or two cups cooked white beans

bay leaf

1 tsp olive oil

3 cloves garlic

2 medium carrots

1 large celery stalk

1/2 an onion

15 oz can of diced tomatoes

4 cups of swiss chard leaves

Cover the beans with water and bring to a boil, once the beans are boiling add a bay leaf, one of the garlic cloves (peeled, whole) and some salt (1/2 - 1 tsp), and turn the heat down so that it remains at a light simmer.

Cut the onion, 2 remaining garlic cloves, carrots and celery in a large dice. In a separate medium sized pot heat the olive oil. Add the garlic and onions along with a pinch of salt and cook for several minutes over medium heat, stirring. Turn the heat down if the mixture begins to brown. Then add the carrots and celery and cook for 5 more minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the can of diced tomatoes and bring the mixture to a simmer. Turn the heat down, keeping the tomatoes at a low simmer, stirring occasionally.

Depending on whether or not you soaked the beans they will take 45 minutes to an hour to cook, so at this point just let everything simmer away until the beans are tender. This is a good time to prepare your chard leaves. Make sure to wash them really well, then rip or chop them into manageable pieces (I ripped them into 2 inch squares).

When the beans are tender, drain them and add them to the vegetables, along with the garlic clove (but not the bay leaf). Stir the mixture well, and add the chard leaves stirring the hot mixture over the leaves then putting the lid on the pot. After a few minutes the chard should wilt down substantially and all you need to do is season to taste with salt and pepper and dig in.