With my husband out of a town, and full share from the Moon Valley Farm in my refrigerator, I decided to give myself a bold challenge: I would not do any additional grocery shopping this week, but find creative ways to use all the great vegetables and pantry items I already had.
Because I am the kind of person who doesn't feel the need to eat certain kinds of foods at specific times of day, having to feed only myself seemed incredibly freeing. To wit: I began by making myself some Swiss chard at 10 on a Saturday morning.
The recipe I found called for pine nuts, which I had left over from the basil pesto I made last week (and which I am going to make again this week). It also called for golden raisins. I didn't have those, but I did have currents left over from a recipe I'd made for my book club meeting -- olive tapinade and goat cheese crostini (delicious). It also called for garlic, which I also had on hand from a previous Moon Valley pick-up.
Here's the recipe for my breakfast of champions.
SWISS CHARD WITH CURRENTS AND PINE NUTS
A bunch of Swiss chard (washed, with leaves torn into pieces and stems cut into 1-inch pieces)
2 tablespoons pine nuts
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/3 cup currents
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper, to taste
1. In a large pan (that has a lid), toast the pine nuts over medium heat for a few minutes until they start to brown a bit. Remove from pan and set aside.
2. Turn pan to medium high and add oil. Add stalks and cook about 4 minutes. Then add leaves, currents and cloves and cook, covered, on medium-low for about 5 minutes (until leaves are well wilted), stirring occasionally.
3. Remove from heat and stir in vinegar and pine nuts, salt and pepper.