Tuesday night dinner - Roasted Garbanzo Beans & Swiss Chard

I'm still working to use up last weeks veggie and fruit share. One of the things I have left over is swiss chard...so I'm going to make my friend Margaret's highly, strongly, 'have to make it because it's so good' recipe of Roasted Chickpeas & Swiss Chard.

If you don't know much about Swiss Chard, let me share some info on this super healthy, potent veggie.

Swiss chard, along with kale, mustard greens and collard greens is one of several leafy green vegetables often referred to as "greens". So if you ever run across recipes which call for "greens" you can use swiss chard. It's also fairly inexpensive to buy.

It's a tall leafy green vegetable with thick, crunchy stalks. You may see different colors...most stalks are white, some are red and others are yellow with wide fan-like green leaves. Swiss chard sometimes can be mistaken, look-wise, with bok choy.

In terms of nutrients, you'd be hard pressed to find another veggie that is as packed, nutrient-wise as this plant. The vitamin and mineral profile is high...it has concentrations of Vitamin A, C, K, E, magnesium, potassium, iron, fiber...it's also a nice source of cooper, calcium (did you know that vegetables are a source of calcium and protein?), Vitamin B2, B6, protein, zinc, folate, etc. It also is claimed to have other health benefits around colon cancer prevention, promotion of healthy bones, vision, etc.

Ok, enough about the veggie...let's get to the recipe I'm going to make tomorrow. This recipe came from Bon Appetit and I made some small tweaks to it.

ROASTED GARBANZO BEANS & SWISS CHARD (this recipe is a little more time-consuming but sounds like it's well worth it):

Beans

• 2 15.5 oz cans of Garbanzo beans (aka Chickpeas), drained (rinse in water)
• 10 garlic cloves, peeled
• 2 large shallots
• 3 small bay leaves
• 1 tsp fennel seeds (optional)
• 1-1/4 cup olive oil

Chard 

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 6 garlic closed, peeled, crushed (minced garlic would be fine too)
• 3 small bay leaves
• 2 shallots, sliced
• 2 bunches Swiss chard, roughly chopped (cut out enter steams)
• Handful of grape or cherry tomatoes, chopped
• 2 cups broth (veggie or chicken)
• Lime

For the beans - Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine first 5 bean ingredients and place in square baking dish. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Pour oil over and cover with foil. Roast until garlic is tender (approx 45 min).

For the chard - Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add garlic, bay leaves and shallot...cover and cook until tender (approx 2 min). Uncover and add 1/2 of chard. Toss until chard wilts (approx 2 min). Add remaining chard, toss again until it wilts. Add the broth, cover and cook until chard is tender (approx 10 min). Season with salt and pepper.

Transfer chard mixture to sieve or colander to set over bowl and drain. Drain the beans and reserve the oil. Discard the bay leaves. Combine both the beans and chard in a skillet, add the 2 tbsp of reserved oil from the beans, toss over medium heat until it's warmed through. Season with salt, pepper, lime and serve.