Garbanzos and Swiss Chard in the Style of the Tunisian Sahel (morshan)
Ingredients
- 3/4 pound Swiss chard leaves, stemmed, rinsed and torn into large pieces
- 2 large cloves garlic, peeled
- 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 small dried red chile
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 cup minced onion
- 2 teaspoon tomato paste
- 1 cup cooked garbanzos, with 3/4 cup cooking liquid
- 1 lemon, cut in wedges, optional
Instructions
In pot steam, parboil or microwave chard leaves until tender, about 5 minutes. Set leaves in colander to drain. Squeeze out excess moisture and shred coarsely. Crush garlic in mortar with salt, coriander and chile until thick, crumbly paste forms. Heat olive oil in 10-inch skillet and saute onion until pale-golden. Add garlic paste and tomato paste and stir into oil until sizzling. Add chard, Basic Cooked Garbanzos and cooking liquid and cook, stirring occasionally, 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand until ready to serve. (Contents of skillet should be very moist but not soupy. For looser texture, stir in more garbanzo cooking liquid.) Serve warm, at room temperature or cold with lemon wedges. Makes 4 servings. [For a main course, I think I could eat a recipe by myself. I made a triple recipe for the wake and was surprised at how little it was.] Note: Broccoli rabe, dandelion leaves, mustard greens, kale or turnip tops may be substituted for Swiss chard. [I used red chard because that was what was in the store.] Discard any yellow or damaged leaves and cook like chard. Cooking time will vary.