Swiss Chard with Fire Roasted Tomatoes

A Lake Tahoe and Truckee Real Estate Newsletter for my Clients and Friends

John Williamson

530-412-1356

Mountain Dining In

Swiss chard with Fire Roasted Tomatoes!

Healthy, Low Cal, Delicious!

For all the Italian food lovers, this is a very light and healthy dish you can prepare whenever you can purchase (or grow!) really fresh green Swiss chard. This makes a great dish to serve family style at the dining table. For vegetarians, simply omit the chicken. It’s delicious!

Ingredients:

· Two boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 3/4 inch cubes (omit for vegetarians).

· 1/2 sweet onion, thinly sliced.

· One or two bunches of green Swiss chard, rinsed and chopped. Red Swiss chard and rainbow Swiss chard may have a less desirable flavor.

· Three fresh garlic cloves, minced.

· One 14.5 ounce can of diced fire roasted tomatoes with juices.

· One 14.5 ounce can of white beans, rinsed and drained.

· Eight ounces of whole-wheat linguine noodles.

· 1/4 cup of pitted Kalamata olives.

· Thinly sliced fresh parmigiano reggiano cheese.

· 1/2 cup of fresh pine nuts.

· 1/2 cup of dry white wine.

· One cup (about) of chicken broth (low sodium).

· Olive oil.

· 1/8 of a teaspoon dried crushed red pepper flakes.

· Salt and pepper.

· Pat of butter

Preparation:

Step 1:

· Start heating a large pot of water on the stove to be used to cook the linguine.

· Remove the white beans from their can into a colander. Rinse the white beans under the kitchen faucet with cold water until all of the gunk and excess salt is gone. Set the white beans aside to drain while you prepare the dish.

· Cut the chicken breasts into 3/4 inch cubes.

· Thinly slice half of the onion, mince the garlic, rinse and chop the chard.

Step 2:

· Brown the chicken cubes in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a large frying pan. Remove the browned chicken cubes to drain on a couple of paper towels on a plate.

· Add a couple of tablespoons of olive oil to the same frying pan. Sauté the onions until tender, about 8 minutes.

· Add the garlic and sauté for another minute.

· Add the chard and sauté until it wilts, about 2 minutes.

· Stir in the tomatoes with their juices. Add the browned chicken, white beans, wine, chicken broth and red pepper flakes.

· Cover, bring to almost a boil, and then simmer until the tomatoes start to break down and the chard is very tender, about 5 minutes.

· After turning off the heat, add some of the Kalamata olives. So not to overpower the dish, the remaining Kalamata olives (or even all of the Kalamata olives) can be added as a garnish when you serve the dish.

· Season with salt and pepper (optional).

Step 3:

· When the large pot of water boils, add the linguine and cook as per the package’s directions.

· To remove excess starch, drain the linguine into a colander in the sink. Then rinse the linguine with hot water. Put the linguine back into the hot, empty pot, sprinkle some olive oil on the linguine and stir it slightly so it doesn’t stick together. Leave it covered to stay warm.

· Toasted pine nuts are an important part of the flavor for the dish. Unfortunately, toasting pine nuts requires your undivided attention, so this is a great job for an letting an extra helper get involved with making the dish tasty. For some reason, the pine nuts just heat in the pan and do nothing for about 10-15 minutes (depending on your heat to the pan). Then, for about 5 seconds they change to a golden brown, and from there they quickly burn. So, you have to keep a close eye on them. To toast the pine nuts, add a pat of butter and about a teaspoon of olive oil to a small fry. Apply low heat. When the butter melts, put the pine nuts into the fry pan and start stirring. Continue to watch and periodically stir the pine nuts until they barely turn a golden brown, quickly stir them so they brown as evenly as possible, and then quickly transfer them to a few layers of paper towels to drain and cool.

· So everyone can serve themselves family style, use separate serving bowls for the pasta, the chicken and chard mix, the olives, and the toasted pine nuts. So their flavors remain distinct, the remaining Kalamata olives, toasted pine nuts and thinly sliced fresh parmigiano reggiano cheese are used as a garnish.

· Enjoy!