by Danielle Bussone

This recipe has a number of steps but it is really quite simple to make. If you don’t care for spicy food, simply leave out the hot pepper.

To assemble you’ll need:

4 leaves swiss chard
1 recipe Spiced Masala Potatoes
1 cup red quinoa
1 recipe tahini sauce

1 – Prepare Quinoa

Ingredients:

1 cup quinoa, (red, white or mixed)

1 ½ cups Mirepoix Vegetable Stock (see Time For Change: Whole Foods For Whole Health!) or water

Preparation and Method:

Rinse quinoa under running water in a fine-meshed strainer. Transfer to a small or medium sauce pan with a lid. Stir in 1 ½ cups vegetable stock or water and bring to a boil (about 2 minutes). Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. You’ll know it is done when the quinoa grows tiny little tails and all of the water is absorbed. Remove from heat and fluff with fork.

2 – Toast Cashews

3 – Prepare Spicy Masala Potatoes

Ingredients:

3 medium (about 1 1/2 lbs) yukon gold potatoes

1 medium to large red or yellow onion, chopped
15 curry leaves or more (1 or 2 stems)
1 teaspoon mustard seeds, any color

1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon tumeric
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon red chilli powder
salt to taste

1/2 cup toasted cashews
cilantro for garnish

This is a deliciously flavorful way to eat potatoes. I first tried this dish at a fantastic Indian/Sri Lanken restaurant called, Dosa Garden, in Staten Island, NY. I was so smitten by the flavors, I hounded the owner to share the recipe with me. He gave me the general ingredients and this is the version I cam up with. I think it comes pretty close. While Kandi, from Dosa Garden, uses oil when he prepares this dish, this is an oil-free method. The preparation times of this dish overlap into the cooking time.

Preparation: 5 -7 minutes

Method:
Wash and dice potatoes, leaving skin on (5 – 7 minutes). Rinse and transfer to a medium sauce pan with a lid. Put in enough water or vegetable stock to come half-way to the top of the potatoes (1/2-1 inch, depending on the size of your saucepan). Bring to a rapid boil. Reduce heat and cook at a low boil until fork tender.

While the potatoes are coming to a boil, peel and chop onions.

Heat your sauté pan and add chopped onions. Stir. Add curry leaves, cumin seeds, and mustard seeds. Sauté, stirring frequently, until onion is translucent. Add 1/8 cup water, turmeric, black pepper and chili powder.

While the onions and potatoes are cooking, prepare cashews. You can leave them whole or chop them into coarsely chopped pieces. In a small fry pan on medium heat, brown cashews, turning them over with a spatula or flip them in the pan frequently. When they are lightly browned, transfer to a cool dish. Don’t leave them in the pan to cool because they will continue to brown and will possibly burn. Set aside.

When potatoes are fork tender (most of the water should be boiled away), drain, reserving liquid, and add to onion mixture. Toss all ingredients until completely covered with the spicy onion mixture. Mash mixture with a potato masher. If the potatoes feel a little dry, add a little of the reserved potato water, 1 tablespoon at a time. Fold in cashews. Garnish with cilantro leaves.

Serve hot as a side dish as a filling for Utthappam (Indian Potato Pancakes), or as a filling for Swiss Chard Rolls. This is also good served cold as a potato salad .

4 – Tahini Sauce

Ingredients:

1/4 cup Tahini
2 teasp white miso (garbanzo bean or soy miso)
1 teasp Mitoku sweet brown vinegar, or brown rice vinegar
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp brown sugar
3/4 cup water

Method:

Tahini sauce is delicious over just about any grain dish. It will keep three days in your refrigerator and reheats well. You can make it to the consistency you desire.

Time: 10 minutes
Yield: 3/4 cup

Preparation and Directions: 2-3min
In a blender on medium-high speed, blend all ingredients until smooth.
If you have a high-powered blender, like a Vita-mix, you can put it on high and blend until the mixture is thick like heavy cream and warm. Add just enough water to thin to a nice creamy sauce. The only problem with using a Vita-mix for this is that the sauce will tend to be a little frothy, with lots of small bubbles in it. While this doesn’t affect flavor, it can give it a less desirable appearance. I, personally, don’t mind this but if you do, blend this in your regular blender and transfer it to a small saucepan and finish the process on the stove.

If you prefer to heat it on a stovetop add 5 minutes to preparation time.

If you don’t have a Vita-mix, transfer the sauce to a small saucepan and carefully heat on medium-low until thickened, adding water until you achieve a warm sauce with the consistency of heavy cream. (Nut sauces like to burn so stir frequently.

5 – Wilting Swiss Chard Leaves To Prepare For Stuffing

Pick out the largest swiss chard leaves you can find and those with few or no tears in them.

First, half-fill a large skillet or sauté pan with water. Cover and bring to a boil. Fill a large, wide-rimmed bowl with cold water. If you have ice cubes, add a few to the water to get it as cold as possible. Set aside. (You can leave this in your sink for less mess.) Also, lay a large, clean towel on your countertop for draining water from leaves.)

While the water is heating, wash several chard leaves to get rid of any residual dirt and grit. Choose a large leaf and turn it over onto a chopping board so that the bottom rib of the leaf is exposed. Lay a paring knife on its side and gently shave about half of the stem off, taking care not to cut through the stem entirely nor accidentally puncture the leaf. This will allow the leaf to bend easier while rolling it. Cut off stem at the base of the leaf and save for making vegetable stock, put in compost or discard. We won’t be using it in this recipe.

Remove lid from water and reduce heat to simmer. Gently lay prepared leaf in hot water and submerge for 30 seconds. Remove with a tong and transfer to cold water bath to stop cooking. Once cooled, remove from water bath and spread out on towel to drain. Pat with another clean towel to dry exposed side of the leaf. Repeat process with all the leaves you plan to stuff.

6 – Assembling Swiss Chard Rolls

To Assemble:

Take wilted leaf and place, shaved stem side up, on a chopping board or large plate. Spoon a generous portion of Spicy Potatoes Masala (see recipe) onto the bottom of the leaf and roll towards the top of the leaf, tucking the potatoes under as you go. When you’ve completed one full turn, fold the sides of the leaf towards the middle. continue to roll until you’ve used the entire leaf. This technique is very similar to rolling a burrito.

To serve:

Prepare a bed of Red Quinoa (see recipe, you may substitute any other type quinoa) and spoon some Tahini Sauce (see recipe) over it. Arrange one or two swiss chard rolls on top of the quinoa, then drizzle some more of the Tahini Sauce over the top. Enjoy!

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