Recipe: Swiss Chard Wraps with Mediterranean Bulgur Salad

Swiss Chard Wraps

Swiss Chard Wraps with Chickpea Raita shown with Fresh Salmon Patties with Horseradish-Caper Sauce

One of the cooks preparing a Swiss Chard Wrap

Recipe: Swiss Chard Wraps Stuffed with Mediterranean Bulgur Salad

(Recipe by Victoria Challancin)

Serves 8.

In an effort to use the beautiful and readily available organic chard available to us in San Miguel, I tweaked my basic tabbouleh recipe, using Middle Eastern spices, to make a healthy filling for a cold chard wrap. This recipe is flexible. Use any dark, leafy green you prefer and fill with a grain or rice stuffing of choice.

For the Swiss chard:
1 bunch Swiss chard, preferable “Bright Lights”—either red or yellow variety, cut out the thickest part of stem (about 1/3 of the way up from the bottom of the leaf and save for another use)

For the salad:
1 1/4 cups fine or medium bulgur
1 1/4 cups water
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
4 to 6 green onions, thinly sliced on the diagonal (use both white and green parts)
1 1/2 cups packed fresh flat-leafed parsley leaves, finely minced
1/2 cup packed fresh mint leaves, finely minced
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and chopped
4 tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 red or yellow bell pepper, diced
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1/3 cup olive oil

For the chard: Pour water to the depth of one inch in a large skillet. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat so that the water is barely simmering. Blanch the chard leaves one by one for about 30 to 45 seconds. To retain the vibrant green color, shock the blanched leaves in a bowl of water with ice. Drain, stack, and blot dry the opened leaves. Place on a plate to cool.

For the salad: In a bowl combine bulgur and water. Soak bulgur for a minimum of one hour.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl mix salt, pepper, allspice, and cinnamon. Add sliced onions and allow to macerate for 30 minutes.

Drain any excess water from the soaked bulgur and return to bowl. Add parsley, mint, cucumber, tomatoes, bell pepper. Whisk the lemon juice and olive oil together in a small bowl and pour over the salad. Add the onion mixture and season with additional salt and pepper to taste.
Note: Bulgur may be prepared 1 day ahead and chilled, covered.
The actual salad may be assembled 1 hour ahead of serving and chilled, covered.

To prepare the wraps: Place the blanched chard leaves on a cutting board. Place approximately 1/4 cup of bulgur salad on each leaf. Roll, folding the edges over the filling, into neat packets. Serve with Chickpea Raita.
(I used the recipe from Mark Bittman from The New York Times, August 2008)

Recipe: Cooked Greens with Garlic and Vinegar

Swiss Chard "Bright Lights' cooked with garlic and dressed with a splash of vinegar

Recipe: Cooked Greens with Garlic and Vinegar
Recipe by Victoria Challancin
Serves 4.

This is more of a cooking technique rather than a recipe. My mother always cooked fresh greens, freshly picked from my father's garden, with some sort of pork. This is my slightly more modern, slightly less delicious compromise. You can use this technique for any time of greens such as kale, mustard greens, turnip greens, dandelion greens, spinach, chard, beet greens, or collard greens, but the cooking time may vary.

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, thinly sliced or finely chopped
2 bunches organic Swiss chard (I like red and yellow “Bright
Lights”)
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
A good splash of hot pepper vinegar or cider vinegar

Chop the stems of the chard and set aside. Slice the leaves into thick ribbons. Heat the oil in a heavy sauté pan. Add the garlic and cook until almost golden. Add the stems and sauté for 2 or 3 minutes. Add the chard leaves, with any rinse water that is still clinging to the leaves. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Stir to coat with oil. Cook for two minutes, stirring frequently. Cover, lower heat, and cook until cooked to desired consistency. For chard, a few minutes is all that is needed. For sturdier greens, add a little water and cook until soft. Check and adjust seasoning. Season with a splash of vinegar mixed in (or serve separately at the table).

Cooking Class Photos

Cooking Class Photos

Here are a few photos of dishes we have made in the last 8 cooking classes at Victoria Challancin's Flavors of the Sun International Cooking School in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.

In honor of the students and their efforts:

Martha Rose Shulman's Healthy Mediterranean Chickpea Salad

Toasted Quinoa Salad with Pomegranate Seeds, Lemon, and Herbs

Honey-Grilled or Baked Moroccan Chicken with Apricot-and-Olive Relish

Dried Bean and Green Bean Salad with Chimichurri Dressing

Mediterranean Couscous Salad

Turnip and Apple Salad with Lemon Dressing

Basque Salad

Martha Stewart's Cheesecake Thumbprint Cookies (with Rosemary Flowers)

Roasted Beet Salad with Yogurt Dressing

Swiss Chard Wraps with Mark Bittman's Chickpea Raita

Maria preparing Jamie Oliver's Roasted Carrot Salad with Citrus Vinaigrette

Thai-Inspired Herbed Noodles

Roasted Vegetable Pot Pie with Cheddar Biscuit Crust
Mushroom Soup with Hazelnut Gremolata
Salad with Prosciutto, Figs, Goat Cheese with a Fresh Fig Vinaigrette

Chinese Scallion Pancakes (with Ginger Dipping Sauce, not shown)

Herbed Italian Chicken Salad with Fresh Herb Salad

Poached Egg on Ciabatta Roll with Avocado-Chile Poblano Parmesan Sauce
Stuffed Baked Tomato with Goat Cheese Fondue and Breadcrumbs

Mario Batali's Stuffed Meatloaf with Carrots, Spinach, and Smoked Provolone Cheese

Wine-Braised Chicken with Sweet Peppers, Onions, and Manzanilla Olives

Mini Black-Bottom Cheesecake with Raspberry Jam

The Cooks

A Few Photos of the Cooks

The following photos have been taken over the last two months in a cooking class for Mexican cooks.  The classes are taught by Victoria Challancin of Flavors of the Sun International Cooking School in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.

Agustina
Elvira

Angeles

Barnabé

Maria

Ivan

Reyna

Karla

Guille

Maria

Maria de Los Angeles

A Cookbook Review: Mediterranean Fresh

A Cookbook Review by Victoria Challancin  

Mediterranean Fresh:  A Compendium of One-Plate Salad Meals and Mix-and-Match Dressings

by Joyce Goldstein

Can you ever have too many Mediterranean cookbooks?  Not in my house.  So when I read that Joyce Goldstein, a favorite cookbook author [see Joyce Goldstein's Mediterranean the Beautiful Cookbook, Sephardic Flavors:  Jewish Cooking of the Mediterranean, Enoteca: Simple, Delicious Recipes in the Italian Wine Bar Tradition, to name but a few] was coming out with a new cookbook, I immediately pre-ordered it.  And my faith in the author proved justified once again.  Mediterranean Fresh delivers. It is destined to become a staple in my repertory of cookbooks.  

Anyone who follows my classes/recipes or eats in my home can easily sense my Mediterranean bias.  The flavors of the Med just call to me:  olives, garlic, capers, tomatoes, pine nuts, chickpeas, olive oil, great vinegars, distinctive cheeses.  These ingredients make my heart sing.  When these same ingredients are put into the hands of a master cook and cookbook author such as Joyce Goldstein, who is both imaginative and has impeccable research skills, the end result is a cookbook that is bound to become a classic, well-worn and loved.

Organization

The book is broken down into two parts:  I) Mediterranean Salads and Small Plates and II) Mediterranean Vinaigrettes, Salad Dressings, and  Sauces.  Part I includes chapters on leafy salads, raw and cooked vegetable salads, fruit salads, classic and modern grain salads, and bean salads.  In addition, there are two chapters, one featuring seafood and another using poultry and meats to help the cook add protein to basic salads and turn them into main events.

The section on dressings includes chapters on Vinaigrettes, Citrus Dressings, Creamy Dressings that Double as Dips, and my favorite, a section dealing with Sauces with Multiple Personalities (i.e. sauces that can be used as marinades and condiments, as well as simple salad dressings).

With 146 different salad and small plate recipes and 30 mix-and-match dressings, there are salads for every taste.

The Fun Bits

Joyce Goldstein addresses the novice and the advanced cook alike. She asks the enticing question, borrowing from her friend the late Barbara Tropp, "Do you have a 'tart mouth' ?"  By tackling the age-old question of acid-to-oil ratio, she helps the reader understand that while tastes simply differ, there are ways to balance acidity and to develop your palate as you learn.

As always, her research is formidable.  History is explored (Did you know that while the Romans actually introduced the idea of salads into the Mediterranean Diet, it was the Arabs who created the tradition of beginning a meal with a salad?).  Tips are given. And Sidebars on techniques like preserving lemons, cooking dried beans properly, choosing your lettuce, and paring your dressings, all contribute to the cook's confidence in choosing and preparing the perfect salad.  They also add immeasurably to the book's undeniable charm.

Practicalities

Perhaps my favorite aspect of this book aside from the luscious recipes, is the idea of mixing and matching dressings to create different salads, appropriate for menus featuring specific cuisines.  For example, a Roasted Pepper and Celery Salad with Tomato Vinaigrette becomes Spanish by simply switching dressings to an almond-orange juice-sherry vinegar-based Catalan dressing.  Or it moves into exotic Morocco with the addition of a Chermoula Vinaigrette which includes cilantro, cumin, paprika, and preserved lemons.  Do you want to use the salad as a part of an Italian menu?  Just trade the Tomato Vinaigrette for the Anchovy-Garlic version.  The possibilities are inspiring.

Wine and Salad?

Selecting a wine to accompany a salad with a potential acid conflict in the dressing is a common problem.  Evan Goldstein, a master sommelier, simplifies the matter in his excellent essay which is included in the book.

Health, Ingredient Selection, and Tips

Focusing on good fats such as olive oil, whole grains, and locally-grown fruits and vegetables makes this book a plus for health- and environment-conscious readers.  Using the famous Mediterranean dietary emphasis on eating less protein and more fresh vegetables, fruits, and grains, is a plus for those looking to loose weight and/or clean out their arteries.  Goldstein's explanation of basic ingredients is complete. The information about lettuces, including amaranth,  dandelion, and fennel fronds, is extensive.  She also includes tips on how to measure, prep, and even select the best ingredients.

The Recipes Themselves

In the section on Chopped Salads, we find a viariety of Beet Salads with as many as  nine different dressings to compliment  them, including Beets and Greens with Yogurt Dressing with a hint of cinnamon  and dill.  In  the Fruit Salad section, melon, cucumbers, watercress, and goat cheese find themselves dressed with a mint  vinaigrette. And the uses of Catalan Vianigrette, Tarator Dressing, and Romesco Dressings are simply mouth-watering examples of inspired creativity in the kitchen.

Other stand-out recipes are:

Cannelloni Beans with Oregano-Garlic Vinaigrette and Shrimp

Tunisian-Inspired Chickpea Salad with Peppers, Capers, and Harissa Dressing

Turkish Chicken Salad with Walnut-Tahini Dressing

Moroccan Salad of Raw Carrots with Citrus-Cinnamon Dressing

Couscous Salad with Almonds, Raisins, and Saffron Onions

Greek Parsley Salad with Tahini Dressing

In summary, this book is a gem.  Practical, entertaining, and creative, it makes a great read.  And for cooks, the recipes speak for themselves.  Traditional classics mingle with modern interpretations, history, personal anecdotes, and beautiful photos to provide something for the beginner and the advanced cook alike. This cookbook is truly not to be missed.  A winner in every way.