Greedy Girl : Stuffed Swiss Chard

M...eat...less

How about some curry quinoa, chickpeas and cranberries in your swiss chard? Sounds interesting, well it tastes pretty darn good too. As usual these recipe ideas hit me like a ton of brick and change over the course of the week depending on the ingredients available to me up until the time of cooking. This recipe is very hearty and filling, the chickpeas is almost like the meat component to the dish while the quinoa acts as rice. In essence this is a curry chicken and white rice wrapped in a swiss chard leaf…hardly! But you get my point.

It is sometimes hard to find a hearty and complete vegetarian meal without the addition of rice and flour; I know that is absolutely the case for us Jamaicans. So if you are trying a gluten free diet, good luck! For this recipe I wanted a truly vegan and possibly gluten free dish. No eggs, no milk, no animal products whatsoever. And I used my favorite seed quinoa (yes quinoa is a seed not a grain).

Quinoa and curry have a special place in my heart, ever since the days my sister and I took packed lunches to work in Manhattan due to the astronomical costs to purchase it daily. I really channeled my past self to create a dish we probably would have taken to work in those days.

So here is is, a lovely little recipe, it may seem like a lot of steps but they are very short and simple ones. And all the ingredients take a very short time to cook and prep. Have fun making this one...and I think its gluten free too :)

Ingredients (printable recipe)

1 -2 bunches of Swiss chard

For quinoa

1 cup quinoa

2 cup vegetable broth/stock

For chickpea

1 ½ tablespoon coconut oil

1 tablespoon curry powder

¼ cup dried cranberries

½ cup onion

1 clove garlic sliced

1 can cooked chick peas

½ cup coconut milk

1 teaspoon sugar

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon black pepper

½ teaspoon smoked paprika

Instructions

For the quinoa

In a strainer wash the quinoa thoroughly to remove the bitter coating
Add quinoa and broth to a pot and bring to boil
When it’s boiling reduce the heat to low cover and let it cook for 15 minutes
Remove from the heat and set aside to steam in the pot (still covered)
You will know the quinoa is cooked when there are little curly spirals detached from the seed
Additionally if all the water has not evaporated and your quinoa is cooked just strain the excess fluff and set aside

For the chick peas

Heat the oil and add the curry powder stirring for a few seconds
Add the onions, garlic and cranberries and continue to cook
Once the onions begin to soften add the chickpeas coconut milk sugar salt black pepper and smoked paprika
Allow the mixture to become thick and creamy
Then stir in the cooked quinoa thoroughly, and remove from heat

For the chard

Bring a pot of water to boil
Prepare a large dish of ice and cold water (ice bath)
Wash the Swiss chard leaves thoroughly and cut off the woody lower stem
Place the leaves 2 to 3 at a time in the hot water for 20-30 seconds then into the ice bath to stop the cooking process, place on a paper towel to dry completely, repeat for all leaves
Place a tablespoon of the curry chickpea quinoa filling at the lower center of the leave and fold in the two sides while rolling up
Place a steamer basket on top of the same boiling water and steam all the rolls for an additional 10-15 minutes before serving