So I had two bunches of chard in the fridge, and lots of leftover pork… I decided to make soup to use up at least some of each. (I still have a bunch of chard left.) How gorgeous is rainbow chard? Vegetables make me happy:
I cooked an onion in a bit of olive oil, and then added in the chopped up pork to brown a bit:
Then I rinsed and threw in a can of organic salt-free cannelini beans:
Then I poured in a good splash of dry vermouth, which I use as a substitute for white wine in risotto, etc. After that heated up (and smelled wonderful) I poured in a can and a half of the Swanson’s “Natural Goodness” chicken broth, which is lower sodium and tastes better. I let that cook for a while, then let it sit because Ben was running late. When he got home I heated the soup back up and added in the chopped up chard:
Which filled the pot all the way up and then immediately wilted down to nothing. It always amazes me! I let it cook about 10 minutes, until the chard was tender, seasoned it, and then we ate it with toast. It would have been even better with panini, but we didn’t get around to hauling the panini press out until last night.
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By the way, I read a good review of a flavored pasta from Trader Joe’s on Apartment Therapy: The Kitchen. It’s a lemon-pepper pappardelle, and I figured it couldn’t hurt to give it a shot. I cooked it and tossed it with the great olive oil that Bridge and Enrico brought us, and Ben grilled a couple sausages we bought from a butcher in the North End. I also chopped up some feta and put that and the sausage on the pasta–not much to look at, but the pasta was really good and this was a nice combo and a SUPER easy meal, since there’s no prep at all.
(Ok, seriously. Must work out the lighting in the kitchen. This is embarrassing.)
The other thing I’ve been up to lately instead of cooking is painting. Our friends Chris and Greta are having a baby boy very soon, and they came to town for a brief visit this weekend. I’d promised to paint something for the nursery for them, so I was working on that last week. Bad photos but I was pleased–Greta wanted a bumble bee and other bugs, in non-pastel colors.
I’m also working on two huge canvases for the living room wall. They are currently in the “wow, that’s hideous” phase; hopefully I can pull them together tonight.
Mmm, I love chard. I used to go to a local LA farmer’s market on weekends, and buy bunches of it. I get the worst veggie-envy reading your blog. -X
PS- We finally bought an oven, and in one week have made pumpkin muffins, pumpkin beskuit, and pumpkin bread. It might not bring me autumn, but it satisfies none the less. I’m still planning to try out that pumpkin cake you featured.
That looks really good and perfect for fall. What kind of pork did you use? And rainbow chard is so beautiful to look at– I always pause a moment before I wilt it– but it is so delcious. I love it wilted with olive oil, lemon and parmesan.
One of my favorite resturants, Al Di La in Brooklyn, serves grilled swiss chard stems as a side– and they are incredible.
We hiked up to Westchester yesterday to meet my boyfriend’s family for dinner and we were able to go to Trader Joe’s! I love that place, not their produce, but almost everything else….
i’m all about the improvised soups with good canned beans – the chard looks terrific. nice canvases, too!
Wow. That looks amazing. Great idea to use vermouth in place of white wine. I’m going to try it tonight with some Italian kale I have in the fridge in place of the chard! Thanks!