Tasty Tuesday!

Chard with Pan Roasted Tomatoes and Kidney Beans

     Two Tasty Tuesday posts in a row again. I'm slacking. Actually that's not the case. I've been busier than ever as of late. My own personal garden and the Towson University Urban Farm (Check out the garden on Facebook) are producing more delicious vegetables than I know what to do with. I've began to explore the world of food preservation and I'm working on a few blog posts on the topic that will be coming soon. 

     Speaking of the Towson University Urban Farm, I picked tons of fresh rainbow chard yesterday and due to a lack of refrigerator space I decided to have some for dinner. This week I give you chard with pan roasted tomatoes and kidney beans. The tomatoes used in this recipe are from my garden (they are a Cassady's Folley heirloom variety). This turned out to be a great recipe and the mixture went very well with the whole wheat couscous I pulled from my cabinet. The dish will go equally well with brown rice. Instead of using the kidney beans you can use chickpeas but I've consumed way too many chickpeas lately and decided to substitute kidney beans instead. Enjoy!

• 1 cup of whole wheat couscous (or brown rice)
• olive oil
• several small tomatoes cut in half length-wise (cherry tomatoes will work just as well but you should increased the quantity used)
• 1 bunch of chard (Swiss chard, rainbow chard, etc.) stems removed and leaves torn
• Small handful of raisins (feel free to leave these out if you don't dig on raisins) 
• garlic, 2 or 3 cloves, thinly sliced
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 can of kidney beans or chickpeas
• 2 tablespoons of lemon juice

1. Cook the couscous in a small pot (I use a ratio of 1 cup cous cous to 2 cups water)
2. Heat the oil in a pan, add the tomatoes, cut side down, and let brown. This will take a few minutes. The tomatoes will become very soft so be sure not to mess with them too much. 
3. Once browned, turn tomatoes over and cook for an additional minute. Carefully transfer the tomatoes to a plate.
4. Add the chard, garlic, raisins, a little water, salt and pepper to the pan. Cook, tossing until the chard wilts.
5. Return the tomatoes to the pan, add the kidney beans (or chickpeas) and the lemon juice and toss until the mixture is heated through.
6. Serve over couscous or brown rice.

A little bit of chard

EXTREME CLOSE-UP!

Tear the chard into large pieces. The heirloom tomatoes wait.....

Brown the tomatoes in olive oil.

Toss in the chard

Return the tomatoes to the pan and add kidney beans and lemon juice

Take care of yourself and each other...