Thursday, July 31, 2008

Swiss Chard with Caramelized Onions, Pine Nuts & Sultanas

Another single girl dinner here at chez Good Appetite. I almost broke down & went to the store for a prepared meal but I'm so glad I didn't, this meal was a lot better than I expected. I don't believe I've ever eaten Swiss Chard before & was a little worried about it being bitter, when I found out it was part of the beet family & I was sold. This dish ended up having a mellow sweetness from the caramelized onions, sultanas & balsamic vinegar that would totally make up for any bitterness from the greens. The toasted pine nuts added a great nutty flavor & crunch.
Swiss Chard with Caramelized Onions, Pine Nuts & Sultanas

I served this over couscous for a really satisfying main dish, brown rice would work well too. Alone, it would make a wonderful side dish especially with red meat.

Swiss Chard with Caramelized Onions, Pine Nuts & Sultanas
Adapted for 1 from seattlepi.com

1 T pine nuts
1/2 T olive oil
1 medium sweet onion, sliced thin
7 stalks of Swiss chard, stems & leaves
1 T sultanas
1 T balsamic vinegar
salt
pepper

In a large saucepan over medium heat, toast the pine nuts until brown & fragrant. Set aside.

In the same pan heat the oil & add the onion. Allow to cook until soft & golden brown, stirring frequently, about 10 minutes.
Swiss Chard
While the onions are cooking, separate the stems from the chard leaves. Chop the chard stems into 2 inch pieces & the leaves into 2 inch strip. Once the onions have cooked add the chard stems & sultanas to the pan & cook for another 10-15 minutes until the stems are tender.

Add the chard leaves & cook until wilted down, about 5 minutes. In the last minute or so of cooking stir in the vinegar.

Serves 1 as a main dish, 2 as a side

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

This looks great. Swiss chard has become one of my favorite greens to work with.

Tara the Foodie said...

Wow, this really looks good! I think I'll try this as a side to one of my meals sometime soon. I LOVE caramelized onions and the nutty-sweetness they bring to a dish. Great picture of the swiss chard, too. Very pretty!

Vicki said...

Mmm...chard and caramelized onions! I can't believe I haven't thought of that combo before!

Anonymous said...

yummm...that looks colourfully fresh, sounds delicious tooo :)

btw, sorry to hear abut your db's cake pic, judging by the half pic of it, I'm sure it's a well done ;)

Neen said...

You're on a roll for surviving singles dinners. When does Matt get back? Oh, and excuse my ignorance, but what are sultanas?

Alicia Foodycat said...

WOuld you look at the colours on that?! Amazing!

kat said...

Thanks everyone. I'm proud of my single cooking adventures but am glad Matt is back.

Neen - Sultanas are golden raisins. I prefer their flavor to regular raisins & always have them in the house to have on oatmeal.

Beth (jamandcream) said...

I love the sound of this combo! I adore pine nuts.

Thistlemoon said...

I totally love this! This is my kind of dish - swiss chard is one of our favorite veggies!

Anonymous said...

This looks amazing! And Swiss chard is one of those 11 healthy foods. Nice job!

Nikki @ NikSnacks said...

I tried this last night with soynuts and I soaked my raisins in pepper-flavored vodka. It was really good. I wanted couscous, but I'm saving it for something else later in the week. I did plain white rice.
I'm glad I tried this. Thanks, Kat!

Megan said...

Just made this tonight as a side dish. My first time ever making swiss chard... And it turned out totally delicious. I skipped the golden raisins 'cause I didn't have any on hand, and it still tasted pretty great. Thanks for the recipe!

Anonymous said...

I prefer currants to raisins and they worked perfectly. This was a fabulous accompaniment to grilled sausages, but I'd have it again on its own. Thank you for this gift!

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