Stuffed Swiss Chard

Submitted by Joey Jabaley

"This is from a great book of authentic Lebanese recipes by Mary Salloum. Would highly recomend the book."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 35mins
• Ingredients: 11
• Yields: 40 rolls
• Serves: 10

ingredients

• 40 -50 leaves swiss chard leaves
• 1 cup rice, washed & drained
• 1⁄2 cup chickpeas
• 1⁄2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons salt
• 1⁄4 teaspoon pepper
• 6 green onions
• 1 cup lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons dry mint
• 3⁄4 cup parsley, finely chopped
• water

directions

1. Using fresh Swiss Chard, place leaves in hot water for 10 minutes to soften for rolling (if the leaves are too large cut in half).
2. Remove the ribs from the leaf.
3. Set leaves aside.
4. Drain chick peas.
5. Combine the skinned chick peas, half of the lemon juice, and all other ingredients except Swiss Chard and water.
6. Mix well.
7. Place a tablespoon of the filling lengthwise on a leaf bringing the edges about 1/2 inch toward the centre and rolling as fingers.
8. Arrange in saucepan, alternating the direction of each layer.
9. Add the other 1/2 cup lemon juice and enought water to reach just below the level of the last row.
10. Bring to boil, then cover and simmer for 45-60 minutes .
11. All water should have evaporated.
12. If not, remove lid and simmer for a further 10 minutes.
13. Place a plate over top of the pan and holding plate and pot securly together, turn upsidedown so all the rolls remain in the same mold on the plate as the pan.
14. Serve with yogurt.

Reviews

[FinallyGrowingUp]

Words can't describe how incredible this dish is! The combination of flavours is perfect. Despite my best attempts to follow the recipe exactly, I did make a few changes. First, I only had 3 lemons, which, from my juicer yielded a little over 3/4 c of lemon juice. I substituted olive oil for vegetable oil and used half of a large sweet onion instead of the green onions. I also only had one bunch of Chard, that I stretched to make about 30 rolls, but I think my pieces were too small, the leaves were a little more fragile than I'd hoped and my rolling skills are unhoned, so many of them fell apart as I built them, but I wedged them in and threw the excess filling into a corner of the pan as well. Despite all of this, the dish turned out delightful! I cooked them in a covered pan and almost managed to do it in one layer, but the few that I put on top were a little less cooked (but still good). In the future, I will use larger pieces of chard and the full cup of lemon juice and ensure I do this in a single layer, even if I need to use 2 pans. I really wish I could give this 10 stars -- it is THAT GOOD!!

 

[not_quite_right89]

This was seriously good. Very nice flavor for such simple ingredients. One of the best recipes i've tried on this site.