Swiss Chard Lemon Rice January 25, 2009

 

A few months ago, I signed up for home delivery of produce from Farm Fresh To You. The box comes filled with green leafy vegetables, many I’ve never used before, and it’s always a surprise! I like trying new vegetables- all vegetables are good for you until you experience otherwise.

I’ve used Swiss Chard in soups, have sauted them for sides, and was a little bored of doing the same thing. So, this time I decided to try using it as part of a main dish.

What You Need

• 1 1/2 Cup of Brown Basmati Rice
• 1 Lemon
• 3 1/2 Cups of Vegetable Broth
• 1 Bunch Swiss Chard
• 2 Cloves of Garlic
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• 1/2 Cup of peanuts

How Its Done

1. Wash the rice and put it in your rice cooker along with 3 cups of vegetable broth and a couple of pinches of salt (if your vegetable broth has salt, adjust for that). Also add the juice of 1/2 a lemon and the zest of the whole lemon. Cook the rice as you normally would.
2. Chop the chard. I remove the stem by folding a lead lengthwise and cutting along the veins. I then stack the leaves and roll them, and then cut thin rounds. I think the official term for the process is “chiffonade”. Wash the leaves well to get rid of any soil.
3. Heat the olive oil in a non-stick saucepan. Add to it the two cloves of garlic, minced ( I use my handy garlic press for this). Sauté for a minute making sure the garlic does not burn. Add the washed chard and sauté till the leaves are wilted. Add salt and pepper to taste and let cook till done. Finally, add the juice of the remaining half of the lemon.
4. While the chard is cooking, roast the peanuts till they are crunchy. I like to roast them with their skins as they have a distinct, earthy flavor.
5. Mix the cooked rice and chard and garnish with roasted peanuts.

I served the Swiss Chard Lemon Rice with beluga lentils cooked with carrots, spiced with some cumin powder and a quarter jalapeño. The swiss chard rice has the tangy, refreshing taste of lemon and the crunchy earthy flavor from the peanuts. The vegetable broth adds another dimension to the rice, making the meal complelety satisfying! Try it..

Grilled Vegetable Naked Burrito January 7, 2009

Over the past year or so of living in the Bay Area, we’ve tried a lot of restaurants and enjoyed most. This area is known for its high restaurant per capita ratio, and definitely lives up to it’s freshest-tasting-food reputation. However, we still miss our quick Mex joint in Denver – Qdoba. Qdoba has locations in most of the US , but alas, none in the Bay Area.

G’s favorite meal at Qdoba is their Naked Grilled Vegetable Burrito. Why naked? Because it’s not rolled in a tortilla- you can skip the 200 calories that a flour tortilla adds to the meal. You can add as many salsas as you want, and have the burrito made with the fixings that you fancy. Yes, it’s like the Burrito Bowl at Chipotle, but the grilled veggies are a Qdoba specialty.  There are many layers of flavors in the Naked Burrito – there’s the cilantro-lime rice, the black beans, the grilled vegetables, the salsa verde (made with tomatillos), pico di gallo, the fiery habanero salsa (yes, we would get all three), and a generous helping of the three cheese mix.  We’ve recreated our favorite Qdoba meal at home, and it comes close to the real deal. The recipe serves 6.

What you need

For the cilantro-lime rice

1. 2 Cups of Rice
2. 4 Cups of water
3. Zest of a lime 
4. Juice of a lime 
5. 1/2 a Cup of chopped cilantro
6. Salt

For the Grilled Vegetables

1. 2 Zucchinis
2. 2 Yellow Squash
3. 1 Eggplant (optional)
4. 1 Red Bell Pepper
5. 4 cloves of garlic
6. 1 Tsp of oregano
7. 1 – 2 Tblsps of olive oil
8. Salt and pepper

For the pico di gallo

1. 2 salad tomatoes
2. 1/2 a red onion
3. 1/4 a jalapeno
4. 1/4 cup of chopped cilantro
5. salt and pepper
6. 1 Tsp of olive oil

For the Salsa Verde

1. 5 Tomatillos
2. 1/2 cup of cilantro
3. 1/4 a jalapeno
4. Salt and pepper

For the Black Beans

1. 2 Cans of Black Beans
2. 1 Cup of water
3. 1- 1 1/2 Tsp of Ground Cumin
4. 1/2 Tsp of oregano
5. 1/2 Tsp of thyme
6. Salt and pepper

• TJ’s Habanero Hot salsa
• 2 Cups of TJ’s Lite Mexican Shredded Cheese
• 1/2 Cup of chopped cilantro
• Sour Cream (optional)

 

How its done

1. Dice the vegetables.  Mix the olive oil, minced garlic, oregano, salt and pepper and toss the vegetables in it.  Marinate for about 15- 20 minutes before you broil the vegetables in your oven. Make sure you evenly spread the vegetables in an oven-safe dish.  Broil them for 15-20 minutes. Toss them half-way through so they evenly cook.  The vegetables need to be crunchy for best flavor and texture.
2. In the meanwhile, Wash the rice and cook it like you usually do, add some salt and half of the lime juice before cooking.  I use my microwave rice cooker – I add the rice, the lime juice, salt and water and cook it at half power for 18 minutes.
3. While the rice is cooking, you can get the beans cooking too. Well, technically they’re cooked so all you’re doing is seasoning them and heating them through.  Rinse the beans out of the can first and add them to a saucepan. Add the water and all the seasoning and let simmer for about 15 minutes.  Mash some of the beans.
4. Now you can turn your attention to the salsas.  For the salsa verde, halve the tomatillos and grill them along with the jalapeno with a little olive oil.. you can also pop them under the broiler till you see them brown.  When you see the browning or caramelization, put the tomatillos, jalapenos with the cilantro and salt and pepper in your blender and blend until smooth. 
5. For the pico di gallo, halve the tomatoes and deseed them. Dice them and finely dice the onions and jalapenos. Mix the onions, tomatoes and jalapenos with the cilantro. Add the salt and pepper and oil and mix. Let rest while the vegetables are broiling.

To assemble – ladle the beans over a bed of the cilantro rice; the grilled vegetables come next, followed by the pico di gallo, the salsa verde and the hot salsa. Top it with the cheese, sour cream (if you have non fat greek yogurt, thats a great and healthy substitute) and some cilantro. Buen provecho!