"Bacon" and Pasta

I don't think that I have ever eaten so much Swiss Chard in my life.  It's quite odd, really, how much I have been eating recently.  Not that I'm conplaining in the least, because I really like chard.  I only wish it wasn't so expensive, but there you have it.  Both M and I agreed that this dish is rather tasty, and it was quite easy to make, even if I did underestimate the amount of cooking time, and we were waiting for ages for the chard to cook down.  Then I realised that the wok was not on the burner.  Things seemed to speed up remarkably when I put the wok back on the burner...

M and I have very different tastes when it comes to the amount of pasta to put in the dish, so I ended up with a lot less spaghetti than her, but I enjoyed it all the same (or maybe even more that her, because I ended up eating the majority of the dish. 

“Bacon” and Chickpea Pasta

Serves 6-8

Adapted from I Eat Food

12 oz. whole wheat spaghetti, cooked and kept warm
6 cloves garlic, pressed
½ lb “bacon”, cut into strips or squares

3 portobellos, diced

28 oz can diced tomatoes (preferably petite diced, but I used normal)
1 bunch Swiss chard, chiffonaded
1 generous cup dried chickpeas, soaked overnight and cooked
½ tsp chili sauce
1 tbsp vegetarian chicken bullion
Freshly ground salt and pepper to taste

Heat a large wok over medium heat. Sauté the garlic and mushroom in a bit of water for 5 minutes or so, until tender.

Add the tomatoes and their juices; cook for two minutes.

Add the remaining ingredient except pasta, and cook for 10 more minutes, until the chard has wilted.
Serve over pasta.

Onion Attaaaack!! And Chickpea and Swiss Chard Stew

I cannot remember the last time I have used such strong onions.  I think these totally take the cake, because when they were cooking I had to ask M to stir them, and even then I was crying and had to leave the kitchen for a couple minutes.  There's got to be something illegal with onions that strong.  The odd thing was that I had no problem chopping them, only when they were cooking.  Go figure.  Life lesson: never question vegetables about their motives for making you cry, just deal with it and have a tissue box handy.

This is a recipe that I haven't made in over a year, but it's quite good.  The odd thing is though, it's not nearly as flavourful as my memory tells me it was.  I guess my tastes have just changed.  Although it wasn't outstanding the first night, this is one of those stews that get loads better with time.  And it's quite easy to make, too.  I have always used red chard, but I bet that green would be OK too.  I wonder if there is a taste difference? 

I was very grateful to have this dish around, because I had it for lunch five days straight with another sweet potato casserole that I made.  A very warming lunch, to say the least.

Chickpea Stew

Serves 4-6

Adapted from the Vegetarian Bible

Generous 2 ½ cups dried chickpeas, soaked and simmered for 50 minutes, until tender (save some of the cooking water)

1 onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic

1 bunch red swiss chard, stems removed and cut into ribbons

2 large sprigs fresh rosemary, finely chopped

28 oz can diced tomatoes

1 tbsp Better Than Bullion Vegetarian Beef Flavouring

1 cup water
Freshly ground salt and pepper, to taste

Mash 2/3 of the chickpeas with a masher, or whatever happens to be available, adding water (preferably cooking water), to get the desired consistency.

Heat a large dutch oven over medium heat with a bit of water. Sauté the onion and garlic until the onion is translucent, about 8 minutes. Add the swiss chard and rosemary, and cook for 3-4 more minutes. Add the tomatoes and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and season with salt and pepper. Cover and simmer until ready to serve.

"Bacon", Chard, and Potato Gratin

A while back I bought some vegetarian bacon, but for some reason the recipe that I was going to use it for just kind of disappeared into the blue.  So this is the dish that I ended up creating to take its place. 

I had actually intended to add caraway seeds and liquid smoke, but that kind of fell by the wayside... I was just to eager to get the thing in the oven.  M and I were hungry.  This smelled so good in the oven too, because of the bacon.  It's really important, I have found, to have fake meats that actually taste good, because they can really make the dish spectacular.  I honestly wish that they were cheaper though, like tofu.  But, like I was telling M the other day, if you get adjusted to these fake meats then it's hard to deal with bland tofu.

That was a really random tangent.  About this gratin.  It's got lovely layers, and I called it "teirs of goodness" (pun intended).  What's kind of odd is that I really don't like crimini mushrooms all that much, until now, it seems.  I have had a fear of them for quite a while now, because I ended up totally ruining a dish with them.  But, like I said before, this gratin is really good, with quite a simple list of ingredients.  Not to mention it's loads of fun putting it in the dish, because the layers are cool.  The only thing is to slice the potatoes wafer thin, otherwise they will not cook through.  For something that appears this elagent and tastes this good, I was surprised with how easily this came together.

Canadian Bacon, Potato, and Swiss-Chard Gratin

Adapted from Delish

Serves 6

1 bunch green Swiss chard, large stems removed, cut into ribbons

1 lb crimini mushrooms, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, pressed
Freshly grated salt and pepper
3 medium red potatoes, sliced as thinly as possible (1/8 inch)

2/3 cup parmesan cheese

1/2 pound sliced vegetarian bacon

Heat a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and garlic, and sauté for 6 minutes. Add the chard and sauté until the chard has wilted. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Preheat the oven to 425. In a casserole dish, layer 1/3 of the potato slices on the bottom. Top with half the cheese, and then half the bacon. Spread all of the swiss chard mixture on top. Add another third of the potatoes, and then the rest of the parmesan. Add the rest of the bacon, and then the remaining potatoes.

Bake, covered, for 15 minutes. Remove the covering, and bake for 30 minutes more, until the potatoes are browned and tender.