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Garlicky Swiss Chard and Chickpeas

Garlicky Swiss Chard & Chickpeas | FoodieCrush.com

**This giveaway is now closed.

There are few things I enjoy more than spending an afternoon cuddled up with:

A: A warm body I love (Smudge, G Dawg or one of the pups all take first place),

B: Either my iPad loaded with new online mags to scroll through or a fresh batch of my favorite print titles to savor,

OR

C: A new cookbook to glean tasty inspiration from.

Lucky me, I have exactly three of those reasons to make a fresh iced coffee, kick off my shoes, and steal away for some “me” time but this time it’s with the debut cookbook from one of the web’s most popular food bloggers, Lori of Recipe Girl, appropriately titled The Recipe Girl Cookbook. Well said Lori.

Lori was one of the first food bloggers I discovered after being introduced to her blog by a friend of a friend. I had just started FoodieCrush and after blogging for a just a few months I boldly asked Lori if I could interview her. She was probably wondering what she got herself into, but graciously said yes to this newbie.

Garlicky Swiss Chard | FoodieCrush.com

Garlicky Swiss Chard | FoodieCrush.com

Garlicky Swiss Chard & Chickpeas | FoodieCrush.com

I got to know her a lot better on a blogger’s trip to visit Harry & David, and in person realized this girl not only knows food, but she’s generous and creative, offering advice when asked and encouraging others to reach their goals. Plus she likes a nice glass of wine. I can totally get down with a gal like that.

So when Lori asked me to take a look at her new cookbook, and cook and eat and share one of her recipes, it wasn’t hard to respond with an “Absolutely!” Send over the echo-sign, I’m in.

Lori paired my post with one from Amanda, who chose to make Lori’s Cheese Ravioli with Brown Butter & Fresh Tomato Sauce. My plan was to choose a side dish that would work with her choice, creating a complete—and simple—dinner. Oh but which recipe was would it be?

Garlicky Swiss Chard & Chickpeas | FoodieCrush.com

Garlicky Swiss Chard & Chickpeas | FoodieCrush.com

I had the toughest time narrowing down my recipe creation choices, maybe because there are 195 of them.

Avocado and Pine Nut Salad (oh, what a perfect combo), Gorgonzola Smashed Potatoes (it’s not like I’d be caught without a fridge full of cheese so I had all the ingredients) or Cheese and Herb Beer Bread (my idea of two essential ingredients joined in perfect union.)

But my daring pairing skills took over and I finally decided Garlicky Swiss Chard with Chickpeas would be the perfect mate to the Cheese Ravioli. 

Luckily spring has produced some gorgeous ribs of Rainbow Swiss Chard that are populating one of my go-to grocery stores. Okay, you might be thinking, ew, swiss chard. What even is that? Hippie dippie food? No, it isn’t hippie dippie food, it’s delicious. And a veggie you really need to incorporate into your diet thanks to it’s many, many health benefits that offset our love of cheese and butter. It’s all about balance people.  And I think it might be one of my recently acquired and newly coveted veggies crushes.

Garlicky Swiss Chard & Chickpeas | FoodieCrush.com

A few notes about the recipe:

1. Follow Lori’s advice on the ingredient list and do not halve this recipe. It seems like a TON, literally a TON, of swiss chard, but like spinach, it cooks down a bunch, so if you’re serving for a crowd, plan accordingly.

2. There’s plenty of room for interpretation here by switching up the noted ingredients for what you have on hand, just like Faith did in her Recipe Girl Cookbook Review. You can always sub out kale or spinach for the swiss chard, parmesan or goat cheese for the feta cheese and regular onion for the shallot (which I had to go back to the store to get since I was out!) Be adventurous and play a little people. 

3. While this recipe lives in the “sides” section of the cookbook, I totally ate the entire thing for lunch. It was that good.

Garlicky Swiss Chard & Chickpeas | FoodieCrush.com

If you try this recipe, please let me know! Leave a comment below, or take a photo and tag it on Instagram with #foodiecrusheats.

3.6 from 5 votes
Print

Garlicky Swiss Chard and Chickpeas

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil divided
  • 2 bunches Swiss chard center stems cut out and discarded and leaves coarsely chopped
  • 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth or vegetable broth
  • 2 medium shallots finely chopped (about 1/2 cup)6 medium garlic cloves, minced
  • 15.5 ounce can garbanzo beans chickpeas, rinsed and drained
  • 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
  • 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese optional

Instructions

  1. In a larges skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add half of hte chard and cook, 1 to 2 minutes. When the first half has wilted, add the remaining chard. When all of the chard is wilted, add the chicken broth. Cover the skillet and cook the chard until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain the chard through a fine sieve (strainer) and set it aside.
  2. Wipe out the skillet and heat the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the shallots and garlic and cook, stirring, until they are softened, about 2 minutes. Add the chard and chickpeas and cook until heated through, 3 to 4 minutes. Drizzle the lemon juice over the mixture and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Sprinkle cheese on top just before serving, if desired.

Recipe Notes

recipe from The Recipe Girl Cookbook

Being a bit of a print junkie who happens to make online magazines because I can’t afford to print it, the first thing I noticed when I handled the The Recipe Girl Cookbook was the delicious cover stock. It has a velvet feel that is so soft to the touch it just begs to be opened. Okay, will do. 

After a few drool marks skirted the pages thanks to lush pics by another fave food blogger/cum photographer Matt Armendariaz (who I interviewed here) I noticed each of the recipes has an icon noting it to be gluten-free, dairy-free, vegetarian or a web favorite. Thanks for that awesome idea I may borrow for upcoming eBooks. Mwah.

The recipes are unique enough for skilled home cooks, but easy enough for the novice to pull off and just about each recipe features a ‘Change It Up’ idea suggesting how to get creative and use Lori’s recipes as a baseline to create your own interpretation. As a winger, I totally get that.

Congratulations on your new cookbook Lori, I’m betting it will leave plenty of people happy and belly-full.

Garlicky Swiss Chard | FoodieCrush.com

Lori and KitchenAid want you to enjoy the book at home with a new blender to boot. One winner will win a copy of The Recipe Girl Cookbook and a 12-Speed KitchenAid Blender in your color choice. I of course like orange, but you get your pick. Please read the complete rules found on the widget. Valid for U.S. residents only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck!

Thanks for reading and please keep in touch by subscribing to FoodieCrush and follow me on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest. This site includes affiliate shopping links of which I receive a small percentage of sales to allow me to create new and special content like this for my readers, so thank you for your support. All opinions are my own.

 


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About Heidi

Hi! I’m Heidi and I cook real good, real food I hope you’ll love to make, too.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Brianna says

    Great post!! Can’t wait to try this recipe and just added Recipe Girl to my Google Reader! My newest veggie discovery is spaghetti squash. I’m not sure how I’ve gone this long without knowing about this vegetable. It’s such a healthy and substantial substitute for pasta!

    Reply

  5. Sheila says

    I’m a little late to join the kale bandwagon, but I’ve been trying to incorporate that into more recipes. Swiss chard seems like a natural next step!

    Reply

  8. Shawn says

    We grew Swiss Chard last summer and I ate SO much of it, I haven’t been able to think of eating it again…..until I saw this recipe! Looks similar to one I make with Kale and just might win me back over to Swiss Chard again :) Thanks for the opportunity!

    Reply

  10. Karen Lynch says

    We are doing our second year in a community garden, I received a free package of Swiss chard. Will have to give this a try if we are successful.

    Reply

  18. Sarah says

    Thanks for such a beautiful post – your pictures are inspiring. Thinking of adding a few more rows of leafy greens to my garden now!

    Reply

  21. Jacqui says

    I know I’m late to the game… but a few months ago I had kale for the first time! Unfortunately, I’m not a huge fan of it :-( A little too bitter for me!

    Reply

    • Beth K says

      Jacqui – if you find dark greens a bit too bitter, try adding just a bit of brown sugar when you cook them. Don’t use enough to make them sweet, just a tiny bit to offset the bitterness. I got that tip from an old Southern Lady many years ago and it’s something I use for kale, collards, mustard greens, etc. Of course, you could always substitute Swiss chard or beet stems & greens for a milder taste.

      Reply

  23. Laura in Texas says

    It’s not a vegetable, but I discovered Yuzu fruit in December and have been hooked on it since! I love Swiss chard, but right now the garden is full of kale and spinach which would work so nice in this recipe. I may have to try it since I plan to make the ravioli recipe tonight!

    Reply

  25. Michelle says

    Swiss chard is great to grow in the garden because it just keeps re-growing whenever you pluck a bunch to eat. It seems to grow faster than spinach too – at least mine does :)

    Reply

  28. Pamela L. says

    My newest veggie find is edamame. I love the bright color that makes every dish I add them to seem fresh.

    Reply

  31. Tracy says

    I’ve been adding veggies to my garden that I’ve eaten for many years but had never thought to try to grow. Broccoli raab and baby bok choy grow as well as kale and chard in my garden, it turns out, and this year I’m trying red kuri squash (I’ve never grown winter squash before) and Good Mother Stallard beans alongside the summer squashes and pole beans I usually grow.

    Reply

  35. Janelle says

    I don’t think I have a recent veggie “discovery,” but I’m kind-of into the mini sweet bell peppers right now, instead of full sized red ones.

    Reply

  41. libby says

    I am going to make this recipe, have never had swiss chard or chickpeas, so two new tastes at one time!!!

    Reply

  48. Shari says

    It’s not really a new vegetable discovery, but more of a discovery of a new way to eat a vegetable we already love… I steam brussel sprouts, then finish them off by sauteing them in a little butter, lemon juice and fresh cracked pepper. Oh yum!!

    Reply

  62. Kristen C says

    Okay, I haven’t had swiss chard in years and I just remember it being bitter…but you actually have me wanting to pick up some from the farmers market. It looks that yummy! Hmm…my newest veggies discovery. Brussel sprouts. Yummy!

    Reply

  65. Kim says

    I recently had artichoke leaves and absolutely loved them! I never knew how to eat them (sill dont know how to cook them) but now I’m hooked!

    Reply

  82. Becky says

    I’ve been trying to put more vegetable purees in main dishes and also do kale or spinach in my smoothies. Thanks for the chance to win!

    Reply

  83. Michelle B says

    I LOVE veggies. All veggies. I don’t know what is new to me!…BUT I have just started trying to roast my own chickpeas to create a crunchy snack. Still needs some work :)

    Reply

  84. Linda Hayes says

    My daughter recently made a delicious soup using boy choy. Loved it. Can’t wait until our Farmer’s Market opens next week. Good stuff a’coming.

    Reply

  90. Lisa Huffman says

    Newest veggie is probably eggplant… never liked it before, but then I learned to sweat it before using, and now I can’t get enough!

    Reply

  111. Carla says

    Zucchini! It’s actually more of a re-discovery than a discovery. I had forgotten how wonderful and versatile it is.

    Reply

  122. Amy J says

    Spinach…although I wouldn’t say it’s a new discovery exactly (I’ve eaten it here and there for years), but I have discovered that eating a gigantic spinach salad (with cucumbers, carrots, whatever I have on hand) EVERYDAY really helps my body to feel good. I have some foot aches/pains (possibly arthritis, or from an injury I had) and as long as I eat my spinach every day, I feel fantastic and pain free!

    Reply

  129. PoopseyMarie says

    My latest veggie discovery? Hmmm… It would have to be the Rainbow Chard. Okay, you can stop laughing now! But really, I tried it and I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised!

    Reply

  130. Kristen M says

    I’m a fairly new convert to Swiss Chard. I’d never had it until recently joining a CSA. Now I crave it and even grow it in my backyard garden.

    Reply

  133. Debbie says

    My newest vegetable discovery while walking through the produce market is “broccoli rabe”, but I have yet to try. I like broccoli,so I wondering it can’t taste too much different, or can it?

    Reply

  145. Kimberly says

    My newest vegetable discovery was this CRAZY looking purple thing that the market I go to had labeled as “salad savory”, but that I’d never seen before and no one there had ever seen either. I ended up putting it all into smoothies, so I never got to taste it really…but next time I see it I’ll get it again and taste it this time!

    Reply

  152. Anne says

    Kohlrabi. I was surprised and pleased the one and only time I cooked it, and I’m looking forward to getting it again at the farmer’s market this year.

    Reply

  155. suzanne says

    I made this recipe exactly as written, except 1 cup veggie broth and 1 cup of water, and it was delicious!! We also grilled some fish and it was a fabulous dinner! My husband loved it too! I’ve been following recipe girl for quite some time, but this got me really excited about her cookbook.

    Reply

  157. jana ellis says

    Just discovered your blog….what fun!!! Thanks for doing the give-away. The book sounds great
    And I would love a kitchen aide blender.

    Reply

  158. jo says

    I tried kale for the first time the other day. I think I would have liked it more without the vinegar and with more garlic.

    Reply

  163. Ann W says

    discovered leeks and looking forward to learning more ways to cook with them. So far made a side dish called creamy leeks. Very good.

    Reply

  168. jjmcgaffey says

    Cauliflower as a starch replacement. I’ve eaten it raw and under cheese for years, but treating it as a replacement for mashed potatoes was a new idea – and yummy!

    Reply

  178. Lori says

    I made this recipe tonight. It is the bomb-digidy! I WILL make it again. I made no substitutions. It’s December in Kentucky and I still have Rainbow Chard and Kale in my garden! I’m so happy!

    Reply

  179. Meghan says

    I will be making this and commenting because it sounds amazing, but because you and I seem to be food soul sisters with a shared love of cookbooks, you need to find the “Chubby vegetarian” cookbook by Justin fox Burks & Amy Lawrence. Oh my goodness!

    Reply

  182. nancy says

    Made this last night and it was so good! Will make again for sure but planning to double the recipe so its enough for a dinner for two people. I didn’t see this was a ‘side’ so there wasn’t enough for 2 people as a main meal.

    Reply

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