white bean swiss chard pasta

I found this "recipe" here.

Greens and White Bean Pasta

 

Cook a few thinly sliced garlic cloves in olive oil in a deep skillet until fragrant.

Stir in a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes, followed by thinly sliced kale or Swiss chard leaves with the ribs removed. Cook, stirring often, until wilted.

Then add rinsed canned cannellini beans and cook until heated through.

Toss with cooked farfalle (bow-tie pasta) and plenty of finely grated Parmesan. Squeeze with lemon juice over just before serving.

chard and potatoes

My amazing and wonderful local farmers one week swapped out the lettuce in the box (because I had too much from my own garden) for chard (and because she is so considerate, she even noted that the stems are good for fermenting, which I'll also do).  Normally I always go for the rainbow chard, loving the bright colors.  This was the white one and ... it sat in my fridge for more than three weeks, but because the produce quality is so good it could have stayed longer but my fridge started freezing things so ... use it up. 

I came upon this recipe in several iterations for the Croatian dish blitva, which is chard and potatoes.  This is the version that I used, and ... the oil was too much for me.  It splattered and was kind of scary and makes me remember that I hardly ever use too much oil.  I think it would be ok with less oil.  It would be good with butter because what isn't?  Rancid sunflower oil would take me back to my time in Russia. 

Other than the averted grease fire, this is really good.  I put juice of half a lemon in it and I think some vinegar would be fine.  I love the potatoes and dark greens together, and the garlickyness of it takes it to the next level.  YUM.

Yield: serves 4-6 (as a side - as a main, probably 2-3 meals worth)

Ingredients

• 1 lb. Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1″ pieces
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• ¹⁄₃ cup olive oil
• 6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 1 lb. Swiss chard, tough stems removed, tender stems and leaves torn into 2″ pieces 

Instructions

Boil potatoes in a 4-qt. saucepan of salted water until tender, 5–7 minutes; drain and set aside.

Add oil to saucepan; place over medium-high heat.

Add garlic; cook until soft, 1–2 minutes.

Add potatoes; cook, stirring occasionally, until golden, 5–7 minutes.

Stir in Swiss chard; cook until wilted, about 5 minutes; season with salt and pepper.

phyllo with greens & cheese

I have some ingredients to use up, and what brings things together better than (organic) phyllo dough? Me = very excited. I used to make a chard phyllo thing when my garden was overabundant. I remember a roommate coming home and sniffing, "I don't eat anything green," and I remember they were very tasty - but beyond that, not so much.

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• kale - I have quite a bit left, so I will boil it down and chop it up finely.
• spinach - frozen, thawed. Note, other greens such as chard and beet greens would be phenomenal.
  
• fennel greens, chopped up
• onion (1)
  
• garlic (2 cloves)
  
• ricotta - leftover from bruschette adventures, I was wondering what to do with it (4-6 oz)
  
• feta - picked up today, I'll use some for a good flavor (4 oz)
  
• 1 egg
  
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg - really, just a little bit
• salt and pepper (other things as desired such as lemon juice, mint, other spices, etc.)
  
• phyllo
  

Sweat onion and garlic to soften. Either cook the greens with that or boil greens separately & then drain/chop and then add in. Add fennel greens. Do drain the greens well or it'll be too soupy.

Add the rest of the ingredients (except phyllo) and mix it up. Taste it and see if anything is missing, adjust, etc.

Let it cool (or prepare the day before). The phyllo should thaw in the refrigerator overnight.

There are many tutorials on-line about how to use phyllo dough; I don't remember it ever being a hassle so I just follow the directions on the box. Lay it out, brush some olive oil, cut it in strips, make it triangles. I like a lot of filling and not much phyllo - probably because I've never had the pleasure of fresh phyllo.

Bake at about 350 degrees for about 25 minutes. Also freeze well to be baked later!

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Phyllo is fun, and if I have any left over I will do some little things with apple, thyme, and pecorino cheese. Yum! You can stuff anything in it and enjoy.