Swiss Chard Bundles

A variation on stuffed grape leaves from Heather Forsyth

This season we are the proud owners of a "share" of a local farm.  We paid up front to help the farmer with costs, and in return we get a share of the farm's bounty all season long.  Last weekend, the first of the share arrived: rainbow chard, spring onions, pea shoots, fresh goats milk and chevre, and a dozen beautiful eggs.  What to do with the goat's milk was easy: goat milk and honey ice cream.  What to do with the rest of the bounty took a little more thought.  Here's the first of what we came up with.

Swiss Chard Bundles (serves 2-4)

Ingredients:

1 bunch swiss chard, rinsed

• 1 c. chopped pea shoots (or lettuce)
  
• 1 spring onion, white and green parts, chopped
  
• 1/2 jalapeno pepper (or about 2 T.) minced
  
• 2 T. finely chopped fresh mint
  
• pinch of salt
  
• splash of olive oil and a squeeze of fresh lemon
  
• 1/2 cup cooked brown rice
  
• 1/2 cup soft, fresh goat cheese

Directions:

1. Choose the largest 8-10 leaves of chard, set the rest aside.
   
2. Plunge the leaves into boiling water for about 2 minutes (no more) then into cold water, pat dry.
   
3. Mix together the pea shoots, pepper, spring onion, mint, salt, olive oil and lemon juice.
   
4. Set a leaf flat, remove the stem, and put about a tablespoon of goat cheese across the middle of the leaf.  Add a spoonful of brown rice, a spoonful of chopped pea shoot mixture, then roll up the leaf, starting from the bottom, until you have a plump green bundle.
   
5. Place the bundle on a plate, and carry on until you've rolled up all the leaves.
   
6. Stack the rest of the chard leaves and chiffonade (slice into ribbons).
   
7. Just before serving, heat 1 T. olive oil in a heavy pan or wok until hot; add the ribboned leaves and saute quickly over hot heat for a minute or two.  Remove from heat and toss with a pinch of salt.
   
8. Pile the sauteed leaves onto the plate with the stuffed leaves.  Sprinkle everything with a little lemon juice, and drizzle a little olive oil over the bundles.

 

Comments

[heydave]

This is quite a neat concept for using greens. I'm already having visions of some variation in the filling, and think this could be fun!

[Heather]

Oh, yes. Once you have the idea of wrapping a green around some tasty filling, the possibilities are endless ;-) I used what I did because I was trying to stay true to what I got from my CSA, but you could have all kinds of fun with the basic idea!