Chard and White Bean Stew
Stepping outside the past couple days, I am finally getting those wonderful hints of cool and crisp, yet still wonderfully warm air that NYC fall brings. Everyone around seems to have a little extra pep in their step, because us New Yorkers know that our sweltering concrete heat, and hot, humid subway days are finally behind us. So store away those bathing suits and summer shorts, and bring out your cable knits and cashmere, because I am welcoming fall with wide open arms.
What better way to ring in October then a cozy, hearty, vegetable and bean stew. For those of you who are thinking “gross!” - shame on you - stews are fantastic! And this particular one, topped with a toasted whole grain roll, fresh grated parmesan, and a fried egg, is so delicious you’ll be making a triple recipe and freezing the rest for when gasp!…the snow starts to fall and you’re hibernating in your apartment until late March.
When I first started writing this blog I conducted a bit of research on other popular food blogs. One of my (and more then 10,000 others) favorites is Smitten Kitchen, which is actually run by a fellow New Yorker. So for the next couple posts, get ready for CheeverSauce’s Smitten Kitchen dump - because I cooked up about 3 recipes I bookmarked of hers, and was dying to try this weekend.
I have to admit I cheated a little on this recipe. I took full advantage of NYC grocery store’s tendencies to have a full display case of pre-chopped vegetables. So this recipe took fraction of the time for me because my carrots, celery, onions, and garlic were all conveniently prepped for me, and all I had to do was throw them into a pot. Hey, when you’re in the center of the produce aisle and on your right side you have perfectly chopped veggies and on your left you have full vegetables that come with a vision of a cutting board, sharp knife, food scraps, extra garbage, too much time, and a future arthritis bill, who could blame me?
Onward to the recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen’s Chard and White Bean Stew:
- Bring a pot of water to boil. Cook 1 bunch (however your grocer sells it) of swiss chard (or kale works great for this recipe as well) for one minute. Drain and squeeze out as much extra water as possible. Careful to not burn yourself here - I used several paper towels for this. Roughly chop your green.
- In the same pot (without water) heat a 5 count pour of olive oil over medium. Add 1 cup (or 2 handfuls) of chopped carrots, 1 cup of chopped celery, 1 cup of chopped shallots, and 3 finely chopped garlic cloves. Saute for 15 minutes.
- Add 1 cup of dry white wine, scraping up any bits that have stuck to the pot, and cook until the wine reduces by 3/4.
- Add 2 15-ounce cans of white beans, two cups of low-sodium vegetable broth, 1 small can of pureed tomatoes, 5 fresh thyme sprigs, 2 bay leafs, and a couple dashes of salt.
- Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 20 minutes. Add chard and cook for 5 minutes more. Remove thyme and bay leaf. Add more broth if you’d like a thinner stew and adjust salt and pepper to taste.
- Fry or poach one egg per dish.
- Serve on top of a toasted whole grain roll or a whole grain baguette, sprinkle with parmesan cheese.
The dish made great leftovers for dinner the next day and lunch!
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