Day #3 - Pinterest Week

I know you have been waiting for day #3 of Pinterest Week.  
Drum roll please….Day #3 is….

Garlicky Swiss Chard and Chickpeas
from:  Foodie Crush

Garlicky Swiss Chard and Chickpeas


I cooked this up as a yummy side with some marinaded flank steak and a baked sweet potato. 

Sweet potato secret:  Sprinkle some cinnamon on top.  Mmmmmm...It's hard to decide if it a dessert of part of the dinner.

The verdict:  Pin It!










Both DD#2 and DH voted this the best swiss chard recipe ever - even better than the ones I've made with bacon - what?!  Although, both agreed that adding a little bacon would not have hurt this recipe, either.  :-)

Cooking the chard in chicken broth helped make it nice and tender and mellow tasting.  The garlicky flavor and the salty feta really made it pop.  Definitely a do-over!

Changes I made:

• I used one large bunch of Swiss Chard instead of two (That Sunday night shopping trip left us with sad pickin' in the chard department.)  
• Because a big pile of chard cooks up to nothing, I added a big box of baby spinach to make enough to serve 4.  If you want enough to serve 4, get 2 bunches of chard like the recipe calls for.  It will look like a ton, but - I promise - cooks down A LOT.
• I used some of the stems.  You can see the little red beauties in the top picture above.  I really hate to waste them and they taste really good if you cook them right.  I cut them on the diagonal and added them to the pot.  It calls for the chard to simmer for 15 minutes in the broth and that is plenty of time for those skinny jem-bright stems to get to just the right barely soft texture.

If you've never tried Swiss Chard, this is a great starter recipe.  Mild chard flavor that lets the other bold flavors shine through.  

So 3 new Pinterest experiments in 3 days and 3 wins!  I'd call that a success!

Another new Pinterest adventure tomorrow…Until then!