Just two things.

On the menu: Quinoa and Chard Cakes

Things are going to be a little different around here this summer. Kevin is living 2 hours away at his lab in Midcoast Maine for the next few months, leaving all of the dinner decisions up to me. I get to eat what I want, when I want to eat it, and although I miss him terribly, the prospect of spending most of the summer alone in the kitchen is kind of exciting. I chose to kick things off with a meal that combined two things I have been talking about for a couple of months but had never cooked due to a little reluctance from Kevin: quinoa and Swiss chard.

The recipe came from The New York Times. I used to live on their website, but when they implemented their digital subscription plan, it broke my poor graduate student heart. I choose my allotted 20 free articles a month very carefully. They include anything written by Melissa Clark (who I recently discovered is part of the new Gilt Taste team, check it out!), a host of political matters, world news, and U.S. events, and the occasional headline that will stick in my brain until I read the corresponding article. The headline for this recipe read “Quinoa and Chard Cakes.”  I knew I had to have it the moment I saw it. It was featured in the Recipes for Health column by Martha Rose Shulman along with a few other quinoa recipes I’m anxious to try. Everything about this recipe spoke to me: quinoa, chard greens and ribs, cumin, garlicky yogurt sauce…I made it for dinner right away that night; I could hardly wait to taste this dish.

I began by cooking the quinoa, simmering it for 15 minutes, draining it, then letting it steam in a covered pot to finish cooking. Cooked quinoa swells up to four times its dry size, so I only used 1/3 cup of dry quinoa for this recipe. While the quinoa was steaming, I prepared the chard by washing the heck out of it (there was SO much sand on those leaves!) and cutting the ribs out of the leaves. I didn’t get rid of the bright red ribs, though. I blanched the leaves of the chard and wrung out as much moisture as I could, then I did the same with the ribs. I was beyond excited that I got to use the chard ribs in this dish…as I’ve prepared more and more greens recently, I always wondered if they could be used for anything. Here is a great example.

I chopped the cooked chard ribs and greens and sauteed them for a few minutes in cumin, garlic, and olive oil before mixing them with parmesan and the cooked quinoa. The mixture was bound together with just one egg, which made it a little difficult to form patties. I carefully formed four patties and cooked them for 10 minutes, 5 minutes per side, until they were browned. While they cooked, I made a garlic paste using the “salt and smash” technique with the back of a chef’s knife and stirred the paste into some plain Greek yogurt.

These were amazing. Cumin is quite possibly my favorite spice–I read somewhere that it’s the third most popular seasoning after salt and pepper, and I can see why. Cumin adds a smoky, unmistakable flavor to a dish and is never overpowering, but rather it harmonizes all the components of said dish, as it did with the quinoa and the swiss chard. This was a very texturally complex dish, with the graininess of the quinoa, the tenderness of the chard greens, and the slight crunch of the chard ribs making each bite feel different, especially with the creaminess of the garlic yogurt. Garlic and plain yogurt. It’s just two things, but the combination blew me away. The tang of the yogurt and the bite of the garlic made a condiment that completed the flavor profile of the dish. I absolutely loved this dish and told Kevin all about it. Lucky for me, he came home over the weekend, and I saved some of the leftovers for him to try. He enjoyed it too.

Things will be a little different around here for a while. But with summer produce upon us, I think I can find ways to distract myself from Kevin’s absence.

Quinoa and Chard Cakes
minimally adapted from Martha Rose Shulman, The New York Times

1 1/2 lbs. Swiss chard, washed and stemmed (do not discard the stems)
3 T. extra virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 t. cumin
Salt and pepper
1 cup cooked quinoa (see below)
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1 egg, beaten
For serving:
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 garlic clove, puréed with a generous pinch of salt

Fill a bowl with ice water. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt generously and add the chard leaves. Blanch for two to three minutes until tender, then transfer to the ice water. Drain, squeeze out excess water and chop medium-fine. Add the chard stems to the water, and cook four to five minutes until tender. Transfer to the ice water, then drain and cut in 1/4-inch dice. Measure out 3/4 cup of the stems, and reserve the rest for another purpose.

Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil over medium heat in a medium or large skillet. Add the garlic. When it is fragrant, in 30 seconds to a minute, stir in the chard leaves and stems and the cumin. Stir together for about a minute, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer to a large bowl, and add the quinoa, Parmesan and egg. Stir together.

Heat the remaining two tablespoons of olive oil  together over medium-high heat in a large, heavy skillet. Moisten your hands, then shape the quinoa and chard mixture into four hamburger-size patties. Carefully place the patties in the hot oil, taking care not to crowd them in the pan. Press down on the tops of the patties with the bottom of your spatula to prevent them from falling apart; if they are thick enough, they should stay together. Cook for four to five minutes on each side until nicely browned. While the patties are cooking, make a garlic paste with the remaining garlic clove and a large pinch of salt. Mix the paste with the yogurt. When the patties have browned, remove them from the heat and serve with the garlic yogurt.

Basic Steamed Quinoa
from Martha Rose Shulman, The New York Times

1 c. dry quinoa
3 c. water, chicken stock or vegetable stock
1/2 t. salt, or to taste

Place the quinoa in a strainer and rinse until the water runs clear.

Bring the water or stock to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add the salt and the quinoa. Bring back to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer 15 minutes, or until the quinoa is tender and translucent, and each grain displays a little thread. Drain and return to the pan. Cover the pan with a clean dish towel, replace the lid and allow to sit undisturbed for 10 minutes. Fluff and serve. Makes four cups, or 6-8 servings.