Chard & Chickpeas with Feta ♥

A 'base' from which to add and adaptAn unexpected benefit of tracking what vegetables are fresh in Maine is the reminder that certain inexpensive, readily available and super-healthful vegetables are woefully unpopulated in what is approaching 800 vegetable recipes, chard, say. It just goes to show that even someone who's obsessed captivated by vegetables has to pay attention too.

Enter this easy-to-prepare, adaptable and tasty vegetarian supper. The greens (essentially Greek Greens) could even be cooked a day or two in advance, making supper itself a real snap.

NEXT TIME I'll add lemon zest, maybe some roasted pepper, hmm, red maybe or maybe poblano. I might also saute the stems to toss in, maybe more onion and oh, say, some leftover rotisserie chicken. This is also a great way to use up odds and ends of leftover vegetables at the end of the week, whatever's on hand. It's a great 'concept recipe'.

CALORIE NOTES Again and again I'm surprised by how many calories live in those diet-tasting chickpeas. So if you're counting Weight Watchers points, be careful with portion size. It's another good reason to bulk up with more vegetables.



FROM THE ARCHIVES See the Recipe Box for other Vegetarian Supper recipes.

A YEAR AGO THIS WEEK Garlicky Romano Beans, I remade these a few weeks ago with regular green beans and they were just as gorgeous

CHARD & CHICKPEAS with FETA

Hands-on time: 30 minutes
Time to table: 50 minutes
Serves 4

Large pot of salted water
1 pound Swiss chard [the inspiring recipe called for 3 pounds, since cleaning/chopping the greens takes the bulk of the prep time, this will greatly affect the timing]

29-ounce can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained [the inspiring recipe used 19 ounces]
1 tablespoon olive oil [the inspiring recipe used 4 tablespoons, completely unnecessary]
4 green onions, chopped
[1/4 cup fresh dill, chopped] - included in the inspiring recipe
4 garlic cloves, chopped
Salt & pepper to taste

2 ounces feta cheese, crumbled

Preheat oven to 400F. Bring the water to a boil. Wash the greens well, fold in half and slice out and reserve the stems for another use. Drop the greens into the boiling water, cover and cook for 4 minutes or until soft. Drain, squeeze dry and chop.

In a large bowl, mix the chickpeas, onion, garlic and chopped greens. Transfer to a greased oven-safe dish. Top with feta, pressing into the greens. Bake for 15 - 20 minutes until sizzling hot. Serve immediately.



PRINT JUST A RECIPE! Now you can print a recipe without wasting ink and paper on the header and sidebar. Here's how.

NEVER MISS A RECIPE! For 'home delivery' of new recipes from A Veggie Venture, sign up here. Once you do, new recipes will be delivered, automatically, straight to your e-mail In Box.




How to eat more vegetables? A Veggie Venture is the home of Veggie Evangelist Alanna Kellogg and the award-winning source of free vegetable recipes with well-organized, quick and easy favorite vegetable recipes, the Alphabet of Vegetables, Weight Watchers low-point recipes and microwave vegetable recipes.

Alanna Kellogg
Alanna Kellogg

A Veggie Venture is home of "veggie evangelist" Alanna Kellogg and the famous asparagus-to-zucchini Alphabet of Vegetables.

Comments

  1. Alanna, this is a great way to incorporate two things I don't cook often enough -- chick peas and chard -- into one great recipe. Will definitely try it, perhaps with some of those extras you mentioned!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I've never worked with chard, but that sure does look appetizing. The extent of my knowledge about chard is that my turtles like to eat it :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love the sound of this recipe. For some reason, I never did get the chard planted this year in my garden, sigh. But it's readily available in the stores here.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Gosh, seems to me Alanna you could write an entire cookbook, ok maybe only a booklet, on just this one recipe! I've loved chickpeas forever and now I'm loving chard.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I grew to really love chard in the spring -- the rainbow kind is so pretty (and the stems are tasty too), but sadly, it's been long gone from the market here. I bet this would be good with white beans too.

    ReplyDelete
  6. This is a great way to use chard. I did make a couple of small changes. I used your suggestion and added a small yellow onion. I sauteed both the yellow and green onions, garlic and the chard stems (finely chopped). After the vegetables were tender, I added the chopped chard leaves and steamed them in the same pan with the cover on. Next I dumped in the beans and put the mixture in a baking dish topped with the feta. From here I followed your directions exactly. We served it with cornbread and sliced tomatoes. It made a delicious meal.

    ReplyDelete
  7. i plant a lot of chard(more than we can ever eat)every spring-the rainbow kind because it's so pretty in the sun...unfortunately my kids hate the stuff...i'll try this recipe out on them this summer-and i think i'd use lemon too(all the more greek) by the way, my neighbour makes cabbage-like rolls with her big chard leaves.

    ReplyDelete
  8. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  9. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thank you for taking a moment to write! I read each and every comment, for each and every recipe, whether a current recipe or a long-ago favorite. If you have a specific question, it's nearly always answered quick-quick. ~ Alanna