Lessons in Greens April 7, 2008

One of my favorite food experiences of all time was cooking at Hacienda las Trancas outside San Miguel de Allende in Mexico. The hacienda’s gardens are lush and verdant and Yolanda, head chef there, made great use of the plentiful greens—lacinato kale, Brussels greens, baby lettuce, and chard. Greens are plentiful producers, and sometimes their overwhelming abundance leads to a certain apathy. Of course, straightforward preparations can be wonderful if the greens are good. In fact, we would often go out at sunset, just before dinner and clip a variety of leaves, toss quickly with a simple lemon vinaigrette and serve, the just-picked grassy, peppery flavor needing little to enhance it. Yolanda also showed me how to “cook” kale cut in the thinnest ribbons with a squeeze of lemon and a sprinkling of olive oil and sea salt. Macerated briefly, the flavor mellows and the greens lose their leathery bite and attain a mellow softness. Simplicity and restraint were truly the hallmarks of Yolanda’s cooking, but she had several more elaborate tricks with greens up her sleeve as well. One day she explained that she was going to show me how to make “tamales verdes.” These, I discovered to my unending delight, were shredded chicken, queso fresco and tomatillo salsa enclosed by feather-light masa and wrapped in a chard leaf. If you have a favorite tamale recipe, give this a try by replacing the corn husk with a chard leaf.

So, inspired by Yolanda and her ways with greens, I offer you this stuffed chard recipe—feel free to adjust the recipe according to any meat or vegetables you have on hand. It’s definitely that kind of recipe!

Stuffed Swiss Chard with Moroccan Flavors

1 onion, minced

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 lg. cans crushed tomatoes

2 Tbs golden raisins or currants

½ cinnamon stick

1 TBS paprika (use sweet Hungarian, hot or smoked or a combination)

2 tsp cumin

1 TBS honey

¼ c. minced flat-leaf parsley

Salt & pepper to taste

2 c. browned ground beef (any cooked meat, crumbled tofu or sautéed mushrooms will work too)

1 c. cooked texmati brown rice

1 c. cooked and drained chickpeas

1 bunch chard—any variety (other greens will work well too)

¼ c. crumbled feta cheese

Saute onions and garlic in olive oil until soft but not browned. Add crushed tomatoes, raisins, cinnamon stick, paprika, cumin, honey, parsley, salt & pepper. Simmer about 30 minutes. Reserve 1 c. sauce and add meat and chickpeas to remaining sauce. Simmer about 20 minutes. Stir in rice. Roll filling up in chard leaves and place in baking pan. Cover with reserved sauce and top with feta. Bake covered with foil at 350 until hot throughout.