CSA Supper: Swiss Chard with Garbanzo Beans and Tomatoes

It's around this point every summer where my enthusiasm for the copious amount of greens we get each week in our farm share starts to wane. Those giant bags of kale and chard become less of a blessing and more of a curse. I feel obligated to take them, but the idea of eating them braised, steamed, tossed with a vinaigrette, etc., honestly makes me gag a little. It's too much of a good thing, if you will.

That's why last week I did a little nosing around on the 'nets for some inspiration to get me through the next 12 weeks of farm pick-ups. I came across this recipe on AllRecipes.com and loved the sound of it because I'm trying more and more to make dinners that all four of us can eat. G and Q love chard and chick peas, so with a little alteration, this meal was perfect!

I think this recipe was intended as a side dish, but to make it a complete dinner, I increased the amount of beans and served ours over Wegmans Golden Jewel Blend, a mix of Israeli couscous, mini-garbanzo beans, orzo, and red quinoa. The lads had their's with sprouted white quinoa. We all had grilled asparagus on the side. (Oh yeah...and S and I had a glass of Malbec rose.)

Swiss Chard with Garbanzo Beans and Tomatoes
serves 4 (or 2 adults and 2 babies*, with some leftover for the hubby's lunch the next day!)

2 T. olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 16 oz. can of garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 large bunch of Swiss chard, cleaned and sliced into ribbons
1 large tomato, sliced
1/2 lemon, juiced
salt & pepper to taste

1. Heat oil in a large pan over medium heat.
2. Add onion and cook until translucent, approximately 5 minutes.
3. Pour in the garbanzo beans and season with salt and pepper.
4. Layer the chard ribbons over the bean and onion mixture, top with the tomato slices, and season with more salt and pepper. Reduce heat to medium-low, then cover the pan, cooking until the chard has wilted.
5. Once the chard has wilted, juice the lemon over the top. Add more salt and pepper to taste.

Baby version:
Once the chard has wilted, remove 1 cup of the chard/bean/onion mixture from the pan and transfer it into a food processor or food mill. Add one tomato slice. Puree to the consistency to which your baby is comfortable. I decided to leave out the lemon juice since this was our first experience with tomato (two new foods at once seemed risky). I was also pretty light on the s&p until I removed the babies' portion.

*We follow the Super Baby Food diet, which says it's safe to eat cooked onion, greens and beans at 9 months and tomato and citrus at 12 months.