Bean and Swiss Chard Stew

This weekend, I had grand plans to cook up a storm. I'd make a bunch of food, store it in the fridge and in the freezer, and in general just prepare myself for the week. I had intended to totally fill my fridge and freezer with all sorts of chicken dishes, stews, etc. (Although I still don't know who it is I'm cooking for. With a party of one, it makes it very difficult to be able to eat every last thing I make).

I digress. I do like to cook, I just also tend to sometimes overwhelm myself with many dishes in the process. All in the name of the blog, right?

Every Wednesday I take a look at Boston.com's food section. Sometimes there's good stuff, sometimes there's challenges, and sometimes something catches my eye that I have to try RIGHT NOW. As was the case with the White Bean and Swiss Chard Stew I caught last week. It seemed perfect-tons of veggies, which I love, and a stew seemed like the perfect pairing with what was otherwise a fairly lousy weekend (hell, all week, really), weather wise (and really, for me, it was all around crappy no matter how it was sliced). So I got to work.



This stew surprised me. I was expecting it to be good, sure, but there was some spicy bite to it that I didn't expect. I'm thinking it came from the chard. It was very tasty. It was extremely filling. It was pure comfort food in a bowl (isn't all food in a bowl comfort food?). I was really excited about this and happy that it didn't disappoint. It was really colorful too right at the point it was done. A few hours later, that color kind of dissipated-the chard went from a really bright green and purple to a more duller version of the two colors, but that doesn't affect how it tastes at all. I put some wild and brown rice into the bowl to eat with it, and that was awesome (but I've eaten it by itself too and it's equally tasty). You really can't go wrong with this dish. If you're anything like me, you will read this recipe and then you'll grab your keys and head for the grocery store or farmstand.

Bean and Swiss Chard Stew (recipe from Boston.com/food)

1/4 cup olive oil
2 medium red onions, coarsely chopped
5 medium carrots, coarsely chopped
3 stalks celery, coarsely chopped
Salt and black pepper, to taste
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 can (14 to 15 ounces) whole plum tomatoes, crushed in a bowl
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
3 cans (15 ounces each) white beans, drained and rinsed
2 bunches (about 2 pounds total) Swiss chard, stems removed, leaves coarsely chopped (I used a bagged, already-chopped version, which worked just as well)
4 cups vegetable stock


1. Heat the olive oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Add the onions, carrots, celery, salt, and black pepper. Stir occasionally, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and all of the parsley. Continue cooking for about 15 minutes, making sure to stir occasionally.

2. Add the tomatoes, red pepper, and oregano. Turn the heat to low and cook for 15 minutes more.

3. Add 2 cans of beans, the Swiss chard, and stock. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring often, for 20 minutes.

4. In a food processor or a blender, puree the remaining can of beans. Stir the puree into the stew and simmer. Taste for seasoning and add more salt and red pepper, if you like.

5. Enjoy!