White Beans with Fennel and Chard

Just after adding the chard

There are so many varieties of greens and colors of beans that I'm sure I could eat them every day for a month and never have the same combination twice.

The other night, I combined white beans, fennel and red-stemmed chard into this simple yet satisfying stew. The fennel adds crunch and a little anise flavor, the beans add texture, and the chard reminds me I'm eating healthy food. Plus it all looks very pretty together.

I could have served this over rice or with bread on the side, but we enjoyed it as is in shallow bowls, using a fork not a spoon.

Fennel bulbs, also known as anise, arrive at the farmers market with long fronds attached. The fronds can be used as garnish, but otherwise end up in the compost. The bulb is the part that goes into this dish.

I've also made this stew with black-eyed peas. Chickpeas would be good. Use whatever bean you like. If you want you can use a 14-oz can of beans instead of cooking your own. Be sure to rinse them really well to get rid of any metal flavor.

The chard cooks down to nothing

White Beans with Fennel and Chard
1/3 cup white beans
2 fennel bulbs
2 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 bunch (about 3/4 lb) Swiss chard
2 medium tomatoes, cored and diced
1 1/2 cups water

Pick over beans and remove any stones. Rinse them off, then cook in plenty of simmering water until tender, about 90 minutes depending on the age of the bean. Drain and set aside.

Prepare the fennel by removing the fronds. Cut off the thick bottom, and discard any discolored or dried-out layers of the bulb. Cut the bulb in half from top to bottom, and cut out the tough triangular core at the bottom. Slice the remaining pieces of the bulb thinly crosswise. Set aside.

Cut the stems off the chard leaves - save for another use or compost them. Wash the leaves well, shake off the excess water, then stack them and cut them in 1/2 inch ribbons. Set aside.

Warm the olive oil over moderate heat, and sauté the fennel and onion, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, about 15 minutes. Add the cooked beans, chard, tomatoes and water. Season with salt and pepper. Partially cover the pan and let it simmer over moderately-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the fennel is tender and the greens have shrunk to almost nothing, about 25 minutes.

Serve in shallow bowls with salt and pepper on the side. Olive oil can be drizzled over or parmesan sprinkled if desired, but we enjoyed it straight.

Serves 4

Chard and Feta Bake

Our chard is growing vigorously. I picked a couple of pounds the other day to make this excellent casserole.

The cheese and chickpeas provide protein. Chard is chock-full of vitamins and minerals, and is receiving attention for its balancing effects on blood sugar levels. So this is a very healthy one-dish dinner.

Chard and Feta Bake
2 lbs chard
2 tbsp olive oil, divided use
1 stem green garlic or 1 clove regular, sliced
2 spring onions, sliced
1/4 cup basil, coarsely chopped
1 can chickpeas, drained (or 1/3 cup dry, cooked)
4 oz feta, diced

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Strip the chard stems from the leaves. Cut the stems in 1 inch or smaller pieces. Coarsely chop the leaves.

Warm 1 tbsp olive oil in a large pot. Add the stems, garlic and onion and sauté until the stems are tender. Stir in the chard leaves and basil, cover and let cook until all is soft.

Drain the greens, squeezing out some of the excess water. Toss them with 2 tbsp olive oil, chickpeas, and salt and pepper to taste.

Oil a shallow 2-quart casserole. Spoon in the greens. Sprinkle the feta over top, pushing it into the greens.

Bake 15-20 minutes until sizzling hot. Serve immediately.

Serves 4-6. Great as leftovers too.

Comfort Food

Sometimes I just want a bowl of delicious goodness.

That's when I turn to this simple yet soul-satisfying dish.

White beans cooked with garlic, steamed greens, and a drizzle of fruity olive oil. It's a wonderful combination of flavors and soothing textures.

If you haven't cooked dried beans before, this is the recipe to start with. If you're not sure how fresh your beans are, start it early in the day. Cook until the beans are soft, then turn off the heat and let them sit on the stove until you start the greens, about 15 minutes before you're ready to eat. Reheat and serve.

If you want to use canned beans, use 2 14-oz cans. Drain off the can juice and reheat them with some vegetable stock or water along with the seasonings. It won't be quite as delicious (or cheap) but it will be good.

For the greens, I was lucky enough to get rapini and lamb's quarters from the Flora Bella stand at the Hollywood Farmers Market. You can use spinach, dandelions, chard, turnip greens, beet greens, whatever you have. If you're not used to bitter greens like dandelion, add some sweet greens like chard and spinach to tone it down. (The bitter greens are excellent for the liver, so try to use some of them.)

In the past, I have only made this recipe when Larry was out of town. I believed he would not like it. But I was wrong. I cooked it last week when I was craving some good greens, and he said he really liked it. And he ate it as leftovers too, so I believe him.

Italian Greens and Beans
1 lb white beans
1 red chile, dried or fresh
3 bay leaves
3 cloves garlic
salt and pepper
1 lb greens (or 2 bunches)
olive oil

Sort the beans and discard any dirt or stones. Rinse them and put them in a large pot with the chile and bay leaves. Peel the garlic and throw it in too. Add boiling water from the kettle to cover by 2 inches. (Use cold tap water if you don't have enough boiling.) Bring to the boil and cook, covered, until the beans are tender. I used white lima beans from Lompoc, probably harvested this year, so they only took 90 minutes to cook. Yours might take up to 4 hours. Plan accordingly. And remember, it's better to cook them early and let them sit than it is to serve crunchy beans.

(Concerned about the gassy qualities of beans? The garlic helps eliminate them.)

Wash the greens well. (In this era of plastic mulch and drip irrigation, the greens might be clean. But if it's rained they can be quite muddy. Swish them in basins of cold water until no dirt is left in the bottom.) Put them in a large pot with an inch of boiling water in the bottom. Let them cook until the stems are tender, about 5 minutes. Drain them and chop into bite-sized pieces.

Taste the beans and add salt and pepper to enhance the flavor.

Using a slotted spoon, put some beans into a shallow soup bowl. Add a little of the bean juice. Spoon some greens on top. Drizzle with a little olive oil. And enjoy.

Serves 6. (But is great reheated the next day)

Autumn Stew

If you're uncertain what to serve the vegetarians at Thanksgiving dinner, consider this lovely wild rice and squash dish that is both autumnal and protein-rich. Everyone will eat it as a side, and the vegetarians will thank you for a satisfying meal.

The vegetables can be prepped ahead, and the stew stirred together on the stove while the turkey rests.

We ate it for dinner Monday night. I pre-cooked the beans and wild rice, and diced the squash. It all sat on the counter until 30 minutes before dinner, when I stirred it together for an easy and excellent meal.

The stew is really good with parmesan shavings on it, but don't do that unless you know there are no vegans at your table (vegans don't eat eggs or dairy products). Instead, serve the parmesan on the side so people can help themselves.

Autumn Stew
1/3 cup dry lima or cannellini beans (or 1 can, drained)
3/4 cup wild rice
1/2 oz dried mushrooms
1 medium onion, chopped
8 oz mushrooms, halved or quartered
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tbsp fresh thyme (or 1 1/2 tsp dried)
3 cups vegetable broth
1 lb butternut squash
1 tsp salt
4 large chard leaves
parmesan

Cook the beans in plenty of boiling water until tender. This will take 2-3 hours depending on the freshness of the beans. Make sure they're cooked all the way through before you drain them.

Cook the wild rice in plenty of salted boiling water until tender, about 30 minutes. Drain and set aside.

Cut the butternut squash in half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds and stringy flesh. Peel off the skin, and dice the squash in 1/2 to 3/4 inch pieces.

Cover the dried mushrooms with 1 cup boiling water and let steep 10 minutes. Remove the mushrooms from the soaking liquid, make sure they have no grit on them, and chop them coarsely. Strain any grit from the soaking liquid and keep it separate.

Warm olive oil over medium-high heat. Sauté onion, mushrooms, pepper and thyme, stirring occasionally, 8-10 minutes until lightly browned.

Add the broth, cooked wild rice, cooked beans, squash and 1 tsp salt. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer, covered, until the squash is tender when pierced with a thin knife, 12-15 minutes.

Add mushrooms and their soaking liquid.

Rinse the chard leaves and chop them, including their stems. Add to the pot, cover, and let cook until stems are tender, about 10 minutes. Season to taste.

Serve with parmesan shavings.

Serves 6 as a main course, more as a side dish.

Vegetable Sides Day Five

Last night we had Italian beans in tomato sauce for dinner.

(I pulled them from the freezer after I got home from work, and then I headed into the garden to enjoy the waning daylight.)

When I came in from digging and pruning and feeding, I quickly made two Italian-style vegetable dishes to go with the beans. The first was chard and yellow peppers sautéed with onions, garlic and chile peppers. The second was zucchini with red onion, garlic and chile peppers.

(Health benefits: zucchini is full of anti-oxidants, cholesterol-lowerers, cancer-preventatives, and prostate helpers. Chard is good for blood pressure and blood sugar.)

Add the dried red chile peppers to your taste, or omit them completely. They add a warmth and zest to the meal, but are not essential.

The flavors of each dish are similar, but the textures are different enough that they are a pleasant contrast.

Chard with Yellow Peppers
1 bunch chard
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup diced onion
1 clove garlic
sprinkle red chiles
1/2 yellow pepper, slivered

Chop the brown bits off the chard stems and discard any wilted leaves. Wash well. Then slice the stems from the leaves and chop the stems in 1/2" pieces. Chop the leaves in 1" ribbons.

Warm the olive oil in a deep pan. Add the onion and sauté until softened. Add the garlic, chiles, yellow pepper and chard stems, sprinkle with salt, and stir another two minutes or so until the stems are tender. Stir in the leaves with the water from washing them still clinging to the leaves, and sprinkle with salt. Stir, then cover the pot and let cook five minutes. Stir again, cover and cook until tender.


Spicy Zucchini
2 zucchini
2 tsp olive oil
1/4 cup diced red onion
1 clove garlic, minced
sprinkle red chiles

Top and tail the zucchini, and slice in 1/4 inch rounds. Warm the olive oil. Add the onion and cook a couple of minutes until softened. Add the garlic and chiles and cook one minute. Stir in the zucchini, sprinkle with salt, cover and cook 5 minutes. Stir again. Cover and cook until tender, another 4-5 minutes.

Baked Chard with Feta

I had a great day working in the garden, and did not feel like cooking dinner. So I picked some Swiss chard on my way into the house and stirred together this one-dish meal. I cooked it in the toaster oven so I didn't have to heat up the kitchen. It has protein from the chickpeas and vegetables from the chard, so no sides were necessary.

Even though it's a simple casserole, it would be a good one to serve to guests, or anyone reluctant to eat greens. Larry said it smelled like pizza while it was cooking.

If you don't have chard, you could use spinach or another tender green. If your dill is more vigorous than mine, add a couple of tablespoons along with the chickpeas.

I used a can of chickpeas (this was lazy cooking, remember?) but you could use 1/3 cup dry chickpeas, cooked until tender but not falling apart.

Good feta is crucial to this dish. I have not found satisfactory organic feta, so I buy mine from the Aliki's Greek Taverna stand at the Hollywood Farmers Market. How poisoned can Greek feta be, I ask myself? Feta is usually made from sheep's milk, not high on the factory-farmed, hormone-added, antibiotic-inflicted list.

So use good feta and fresh greens, and you will relish this one-dish meal.

Swiss Chard with Feta and Chickpeas
2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup diced white onion
1 1/2 to 2 lbs chard
1 clove garlic, minced
14-oz can chickpeas, drained
3 oz feta, diced

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Wash chard, remove heavy stems. Chop about 1 cup of these stems into 1/2 inch dice, discard the rest.

Sauté onion and diced chard stems in olive oil until tender. Add chard leaves, toss well, cover and let cook until wilted, about 3 minutes. Drain, squeeze out liquid with the back of a wooden spoon, and chop coarsely.

Toss the chard with 1 tbsp olive oil, garlic and chickpeas. Season to taste with salt and pepper, but remember the feta will add saltiness.

Spoon the chard mixture into a 6x8 inch pyrex casserole. Scatter feta on top and push into the greens. Bake 15-20 minutes until sizzling hot and aromatic. Serve immediately.

Serves 2-3