In my old bag of tricks recipes that are good year round is a vegetarian meal or hearty side dish that brings back great memories of a visit to my favorite (and only!) uncle in London in 1996.  We dined at the famed River Cafe Restaurant in London.  I recall what I ordered that day and loved every bite of the food and the ambiance of the restaurant.  It was casual but chic and had an open kitchen that you could also view from outdoors right along the Thames River.  We bought a copy of the cookbook signed by Rose Gray.  She and her partner Ruth Rogers brought fresh, simple Italian fare to London in 1987.  The restaurant is still going strong, although, without Rose Gray who passed away in 2010.

Although I did not have this dish at the restaurant it is one of my favorites in the cookbook.  The recipe calls for cooking the chickpeas from scratch.  I highly recommend doing so, as it adds a depth of flavor of garlic infused into the chickpeas and you can cook them to your preferred chewiness.  However, most of the time I just open a can of chickpeas and rinse them well.  I’ve learned which brands I prefer – and at typically under $1.00 it’s an easy pantry staple.  Swiss Chard is available year round and I think tastes great.  It gives off a beautiful pink color that makes this dish look really pretty (especially if you can find the rainbow swiss chard).  Alternatively, beet greens or kale can be used with similar results. The original recipe calls for using just the chard leaves.  I often use the stems too – just separate them from the leaves and cut into small pieces and sauté with the onion and carrots.

Garlic, red chili peppers, wine and tomato paste add layers of flavor too.  I will sometimes substitute dry vermouth for the white wine if I don’t want to open a bottle of wine (which is seldom, however!).  Even chicken broth works well to flavor and make a good sauce.  The parsley and the lemon added at the end really brighten up the dish with acidity and texture.

separate the stems from chard leaves first to allow for even cooking

saute the biggest pieces first – the carrots, chard stems and onions.

The dish is really good served hot but can easily be served at room temperature if you are entertaining and want to cook it ahead.  Just add the lemon juice and parsley right before serving.

Chickpeas with Swiss Chard

Serves 6 - 8
Preparation time about 45 minutes

Ingredients

1 can (about 14 oz) chickpeas (or 2 cups home cooked chickpeas)

4-6 Tbs olive oil

2 lbs Swiss Chard  – stems removed, washed

1 medum red onion, peeled and coarsely chopped

2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into small pieces1 large garlic clove, peeled and chopped

1/2 tsp dried red chili peppers, or more to taste

sea salt and black pepper

8 oz. white wine

2 Tbs. tomato paste

3 handfulls fresh parsley

2 Tbs lemon juice

olive oil for drizzling

 

Instructions

Drain and rinse chickpeas.

Blanch the chard in a large pot of boiling, salted water.  Drain and chop coarsely.

Heat 4 Tbs olive oil in a large pan over medium heat.  Add onion, carrot and cook slowly for 10 to 15 minutes, or until carrots are just tender.  Add garlic, red chilies, salt and pepper. Add wine and reduce by half.  Add tomato paste and reduce until sauce is quite thick.

Add the chickpeas and chard.  Stir to combine well.  Adjust seasoning to taste and cook for an additional 10 minutes.

Chop 2/3 of parley leaves and add to mixture with the lemon juice.

Serve sprinkled with whole parley leaves and a little extra virgin olive oil

Notes

Different greens may be used in place of the swiss chard.