Luis and I were invited to dinner recently and our hosts made this incredible dish using our Swiss chard adapted from a recipe from The New York Times. We ate it as a side dish, but you could certainly serve it over rice, polenta, or couscous.  Substitute any hardy green – kale, collards, beet greens.

 

1 cup small white beans, soaked (kidney or pintos are great too)

½ a large onion

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 teaspoon coriander seeds, toasted and ground

1 teaspoon caraway seeds, toasted and ground

2 teaspoons cumin seeds, toasted and ground

2 tablespoons olive oil (even better with pork fat!)

1 large fennel bulb, cored and diced

Salt to taste

1 teaspoon paprika

1 jalapeno pepper, diced

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 pound swiss chard, cleaned and sliced

1 bunch cilantro, chopped

Juice and zest of 1 lemon

 

Sauté onion in olive oil for five minutes; add fennel, garlic and a pinch of salt.  Sauté until fennel has softened.  Add beans, ground spices, paprika and jalapeno.  Cover with water or chicken stock; simmer 20 minutes until beans are tender.

 

Add cleaned greens to pot; simmer additional 20 minutes until greens are tender.  Stir in cilantro and adjust seasonings.

 

The finished dish should be moist enough to coat grain or pasta with broth.